05/08/2026
๐ก๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ
We generally do not post about government financial policies however you have probably seen the Prime Minister posting how great it is that is removing credit card surcharges.
That is correct, so from the first of October 2026 we as a small business will no longer be able to charge a surcharge on credit card transactions.
What that means is the price you see on our invoice must be the final price you pay
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๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐ฌ โ ๐๐๐ฌ? ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐!
Like everything, the option to use a credit or debit card is a consumer option and of course it attracts a charge, you know that, so least you have the choice to use it or not.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐
๐๐๐ฌ
Banks and payment service providers (like Vis, Mastercard, Square or Tyro) will continue charging businesses "Merchant Service Fees" to process transactions.
๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ
To stop businesses from hurting financially, (cough) the RBA is slashing the wholesale caps that banks can charge. Domestic credit card interchange fees will drop to a maximum cap of 0.3%.
Which actually means nothing โฆ
The RBA rate is the interchange fee (the wholesale cost between banks). The total merchant service fees from the service providers are made up of three things.
1. The Interchange Fee (Now capped by the RBA).
2. Scheme Fees (Charged by Visa/Mastercard) and
3. Banks profit and terminal costs.
So to be clear the RBA are not capping the credit or debit card scheme fees or the profit margins imposed by the providers, they are only capping the % charges between banks.
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?
Apologies in advance but you will see most if not all businesses imbed these merchant fees in to base retail pricing with an estimated price increase of all goods and services by a guesstimate of about 1.0 to 1.5% to cover the merchant fees that we are no longer legally able to pass on to the consumer.
Good Job team, make it harder for small business, remove options for customers and make it more expensive for everyone.
