RBA Confirmed

Surcharge Ban Calculator

Card surcharges on eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard are banned from 1 October 2026. Calculate how much your business will absorb and find a cheaper provider.

Enter the rate your provider charges you, if you know it.

The percentage you add to card payments at checkout.

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What percentage of transactions do you surcharge?
Surcharge revenue you'll lose
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Enter your surcharge rate
Your current provider cost
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Cheapest alternative
$246/mo
Zeller, $2,952/year

Enter your current surcharge rate above to see how much you’ll absorb when the ban takes effect on 1 October 2026.

The cheapest providers for your business

ProviderEst. monthly cost
Zeller$246/moVisit Zeller
Square$267/moVisit Square
Stripe$345/moVisit Stripe

Find your cheapest provider

See exactly what every provider would charge at your volume, with your numbers already filled in.

Compare all 21 providersNeed help switching? Get expert advice

Surcharge ban questions, answered

  • Card surcharges on eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard are banned across Australia from 1 October 2026. Foreign card interchange caps follow on 1 April 2027. Until October, surcharging within the current rules is still allowed.

  • The ban covers eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard, including debit, prepaid, and credit cards. American Express and other three-party schemes are not covered. From October you cannot add a surcharge on the covered networks.

  • Yes. American Express is not part of the ban, so businesses can keep surcharging AmEx transactions. You will need to stop surcharging eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard from 1 October 2026.

  • It depends on how much you currently pass to customers. Your absorbed cost is roughly your monthly card volume times the share you surcharge times your surcharge rate. Use the calculator above to see your annual figure.

  • Interchange caps are also dropping: consumer credit from 0.8% to 0.3% and debit from 0.2% to 0.16%. The RBA estimates this cuts merchant fees by about $910 million a year, so providers should be able to lower rates. You may need to ask, or switch, to see the benefit.

  • Least-cost routing sends contactless debit payments through the cheaper network, usually eftpos rather than Visa or Mastercard. It can noticeably reduce your debit fees. Ask your provider whether it is switched on for your terminal.

  • If you currently surcharge, absorbing those fees makes your provider rate matter a lot more from October. Comparing now lets you lock in a cheaper rate before the change. The comparison table shows the cheapest option for your volume.

  • Surcharging covered cards after 1 October 2026 will breach the rules, and the ACCC can take enforcement action. Update your point-of-sale settings and checkout pricing before the date. Surcharging on American Express remains allowed.