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Card surcharge ban: what to take off your website now it has started

The card surcharge ban is in force, and while many payment providers planned to switch surcharging off on their terminals, any surcharge wording on your website, booking forms, invoices and Business Profile has to come off by hand; weekend, public holiday, booking and service fees can stay if they are clearly shown and apply to everyone.

Many payment providers planned to switch card surcharging off on their terminals. Your website will not switch itself off, and that is the job still waiting.

From 1 October 2026 businesses can no longer surcharge payments made with eftpos, Mastercard, Visa or American Express. The Reserve Bank notes that some providers' terminals were to lose surcharging functionality around that date. Both official checklists, though, also name the places customers read before they ever reach a terminal. The NSW Small Business Commissioner says to remove card surcharge information from menus, websites, booking systems, invoices, signage and other customer-facing materials, and the Small Business Ombudsman's list is almost word for word the same.

Put those together and the counter can be sorted while your pricing page, booking form and invoice template still quote a fee you can no longer charge. Here is how to find that wording, what to keep, and what to ask your payment provider.

Why your website is usually what's left to fix

The path to payment, and where the old surcharge line sits

The path to payment, and where the old surcharge line sits. Six steps from left to right: Google Business Profile listing, website pricing page, booking form, quote or invoice, online checkout, payment terminal or provider. The first five share one colour and are labelled: Change by hand. The last is a second colour and labelled: Many providers planned to switch surcharging off around 1 October. Google Business Profile listing Website pricing page Booking form Quote or invoice Online checkout Payment terminal or provider Change by hand Many providers planned to switch surcharging off around 1 October The path to payment, and where the old surcharge line sits. Six steps from left to right: Google Business Profile listing, website pricing page, booking form, quote or invoice, online checkout, payment terminal or provider. The first five share one colour and are labelled: Change by hand. The last is a second colour and labelled: Many providers planned to switch surcharging off around 1 October. Google Business Profile listing Website pricing page Booking form Quote or invoice Online checkout Payment terminal or provider Change by hand Many providers planned to switch surcharging off around 1 October

Both official checklists name websites, booking systems and invoices.

Source: NSW Small Business Commission, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Reserve Bank of Australia

A terminal setting can change overnight. A sentence on your checkout page does not. Wording can also hide in more places than you remember writing it.

The Ombudsman also asks businesses to check that information is consistent across physical and online channels. If the sign at the register is gone but your booking confirmation email still mentions a card fee, your channels disagree, and the customer will notice before you do.

Which cards and payments the ban covers

Payment method No-surcharge rule applies from Where it applies
eftpos, Mastercard, Visa, American Express 1 October 2026 In-store, online and digital, including cards in mobile wallets *
PayPal 5 October 2026 Not stated in the sources
UnionPay 1 October 2026 Not stated in the sources

* Unless a card network's rules permit otherwise.

The first four are the big ones: eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and American Express. The Reserve Bank adds that UnionPay and PayPal have also decided to remove surcharging, with PayPal's rule taking effect on 5 October 2026.

It applies everywhere you take a card. AusPayNet, the industry body for the card networks, says the ban covers in-store, online and digital transactions, including cards stored in mobile wallets, unless a card network's rules permit otherwise.

Note that the RBA does not directly regulate merchants: the card networks set the no-surcharge rules and are responsible for compliance.

That matters in practice. AusPayNet says businesses that keep surcharging may be contacted by their payment service provider or bank and may be subject to penalties.

Where old surcharge wording hides on a website

Websites, booking systems and invoices are named on both official checklists.

A small business owner's hands at a kitchen bench with an open laptop, a smartphone and a takeaway coffee
IllustrationHands at a laptop on a kitchen bench, with a phone and a takeaway coffee.

Our advice at Newcastle SEO is to search your own site rather than rely on memory. Most website editors have a search box in the admin area. Try "surcharge", "card fee", "credit card" and "%". You can also type site:yourdomain.com.au surcharge into Google to see which public pages it finds.

Then check the places a search box can miss:

  • Plugin and add-on settings. Online shop and booking tools can add a card fee from a settings screen, not from any page you wrote.
  • Templates. Quote, invoice and confirmation email templates can live in separate software.
  • PDFs. Price lists and menus uploaded as files will not change when you edit the page around them.
  • Your Google Business Profile. Read the description and any recent posts. If you've been tidying your profile since our piece on Google reviews on your Business Profile, add this to the same session.

What to delete and what can stay

Remove Can stay, if charged to all customers and clearly stated
Any extra charge added because the customer pays by card (eftpos, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, PayPal, UnionPay)
  • Weekend surcharges
  • Public holiday surcharges
  • Booking fees
  • Service fees
The Ombudsman's example

"A 10% public holiday surcharge applies today."

The menu form, from business.gov.au

"a surcharge of [percentage] applies on [the specified day or days]"

Payment provider fees such as terminal rental and processing are not surcharges and are not covered by the ban.

Delete anything that adds a charge because the customer pays by card. Keep the rest, as long as it is fair to everyone.

The ban covers only surcharges added because a customer pays by card. Business.gov.au lists what is not affected: weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, booking fees, service fees and other non-card-related charges. AusPayNet adds the condition that matters: booking or service fees must be charged to all customers, and prices must be clear and not misleading.

The Ombudsman's example of permitted wording is short: "A 10% public holiday surcharge applies today." A restaurant that surcharges on certain days must put on its menu "a surcharge of [percentage] applies on [the specified day or days]".

One thing you don't need to hunt for: your provider's own fees. Terminal rental and processing charges are not surcharges and are not covered by the ban. They sit between you and your provider, not on your website.

How to show your prices now the surcharge is gone

The Ombudsman's example: a drink on the menu

  • Cash: the displayed price

  • Debit: the displayed price

  • Credit: the displayed price

One displayed price, whatever the payment method.
A customer holds a phone to a countertop eftpos terminal beside a cappuccino, with a pastry cabinet behind.
IllustrationPaying by phone at a café counter.

One price, whatever the card. The Ombudsman's example: a drink costs the price shown on the menu whether the customer pays by cash, debit or credit.

If card costs need to go somewhere, the Reserve Bank says businesses can recover card costs through overall pricing instead of a separate line. Two rules come with that:

You can still reward a payment method you prefer. The Reserve Bank says businesses can still offer discounts for particular payment methods, and it points businesses to the ACCC's price display guidance before they word one.

Three things to check with your payment provider

Invoice issued before 1 October 2026, then paid on or after 1 October 2026, leads to: May no longer be surchargeable. Your provider may have disabled surcharging from that date. Invoice issued before 1 October 2026 Paid on or after 1 October 2026 May no longer be surchargeable. Your provider may have disabled surcharging from that date. Invoice issued before 1 October 2026, then paid on or after 1 October 2026, leads to: May no longer be surchargeable. Your provider may have disabled surcharging from that date. Invoice issued before 1 October 2026 Paid on or after 1 October 2026 May no longer be surchargeable. Your provider may have disabled surcharging from that date.

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

These are the cases where the rule is easy to get wrong, and where your provider can see things your website can't.

Invoices that straddled the start date. An invoice issued before 1 October but paid on or after that date may no longer be surchargeable, and providers may have disabled surcharging from that date. If you sent invoices with a card fee in September, check what happened when they were paid.

Business customers and not-for-profits. No exemption or extension is available to businesses, including not-for-profits and business-to-business payments, unless a card network's rules or a law provide one.

Online tools that didn't update. The Ombudsman says to review eftpos terminals, point-of-sale systems, invoicing software, online payment platforms and other payment systems. If any were not updated automatically, it says to contact your merchant service provider.

What happens next in the reform

Selected dates in the reform, in order: 1 October 2026, Card surcharge ban started; 5 October 2026, PayPal no-surcharge rule started; 30 October 2026, Card networks and large acquirers begin publishing fee information; 1 April 2027, Detailed merchant statements required from all acquirers. 1 October 2026 Card surcharge ban started 5 October 2026 PayPal no-surcharge rule started 30 October 2026 Card networks and large acquirers begin publishing fee information 1 April 2027 Detailed merchant statements required from all acquirers Selected dates in the reform, in order: 1 October 2026, Card surcharge ban started; 5 October 2026, PayPal no-surcharge rule started; 30 October 2026, Card networks and large acquirers begin publishing fee information; 1 April 2027, Detailed merchant statements required from all acquirers. 1 October 2026 Card surcharge ban started 5 October 2026 PayPal no-surcharge rule started 30 October 2026 Card networks and large acquirers begin publishing fee information 1 April 2027 Detailed merchant statements required from all acquirers

Selected dates

Source: business.gov.au, Reserve Bank of Australia

The ban has started, and the Reserve Bank's wider reform has further dated steps, two of which are worth knowing. From 30 October 2026, card networks and large acquirers begin publishing fee information. From 1 April 2027, more detailed merchant statements are required from all acquirers.

Neither changes what goes on your website. Both give you more to read when you next look at what you pay to take cards.

The whole change on one page

If you only keep one thing from this, keep the rule of thumb. No extra charge for paying by card, wherever it is written. Weekend, public holiday, booking and service fees can stay if they apply to everyone and are shown clearly.

Who to ask, and your next step

Start with your payment provider. They can confirm what changed on your terminal and online checkout, and what happened to any invoices paid after the start date. For plain guidance, the Small Business Ombudsman's ban page and business.gov.au are the two to bookmark. The NSW Small Business Commissioner has a checklist too, and you may already know the Commission from NSW Small Business Month. None of this is legal advice, so check your own situation with them.

Then do the website pass this week: search your site, open your templates, and read your Business Profile the way a customer would. If you'd like to talk through the website and Business Profile side of it, get in touch with Newcastle SEO.

Sources

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