Australia's Card Surcharge Ban and Your Direct Ordering Checkout

Australia banned surcharges on debit and credit card payments on October 1, 2026. If your restaurant takes online orders through its own website in Australia, check your checkout page now for any line that adds a percentage because the guest paid by card. Then decide whether to fold that cost into your menu prices.

Restaurants in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are not covered by this Australian rule. The lesson still applies everywhere: guests judge your ordering page by the total they see at the last step. A fee that appears late, or looks like a penalty for paying, costs you trust.

What the Reserve Bank of Australia decided

On March 31, 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia published the final decisions of its Payments System Board. The board decided to remove surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks. The bank said the surcharging system was no longer working as intended.

Most of the changes took effect on October 1, 2026. The same package also lowers the caps on interchange fees, which are the fees paid on card transactions. The bank expects small businesses to benefit the most from those lower caps.

One detail differs between official pages. The Reserve Bank names eftpos, Mastercard and Visa. The government's business.gov.au page also lists American Express. Ask your payment provider which cards your online checkout must treat as surcharge free.

What is still allowed

The rule targets card surcharges. According to business.gov.au, businesses may still apply weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees. The rule does not address cash, buy-now-pay-later services or digital wallets.

The Reserve Bank also states that businesses can continue to offer discounts, including to guests who pay by cash. It leaves the choice to each business. Owners can include payment costs in their menu prices, just as they do with rent and wages.

Treat these allowances with care. A fee that exists only to recover card costs may draw complaints even if you label it something else. Name each fee for what it covers, and keep each one tied to a real service.

Check your direct ordering checkout

Your own ordering page gives you full control over the total. That also means any old surcharge setting is your job to find. Work through the page the way a guest would.

1. Place a test order. Pay with a real card and read every line before you confirm. Look for a card fee, processing fee or payment fee.
2. Check the settings. Open your ordering platform and your payment account. Look for a percentage added at checkout and switch it off.
3. Check saved templates. Review confirmation emails, receipts and text messages. Old wording about a card fee can linger there.
4. Check the order types. Test pickup, curbside and any table ordering link. Each can carry its own fee setting.
5. Ask your provider. Confirm in writing which cards and which online payment methods fall under the ban.

Decide how to cover the cost

The fees you pay on card sales do not disappear. The Reserve Bank is lowering interchange caps, but you will still pay to accept cards. You now choose where that cost goes.

Reporting by ABC News on October 2, 2026 found many businesses raising prices across the board. One restaurant owner said venues will likely round item prices up, for example moving a coffee from $4.80 to $5.00. Some owners said cash discounts were impractical because of reconciliation and failed payments.

For an online ordering page, three practical options exist.

• Absorb it. Keep prices steady and accept a small drop in margin. This works best on high-margin items.
• Adjust menu prices. Raise prices a little on items that sell often online. Keep the same prices in the restaurant and online so guests see no gap.
• Review your fees. If you charge a pickup or service fee, confirm it covers a real cost and shows clearly before checkout.

Whichever you pick, change the whole menu in one pass. Mismatched prices between your website and your in-house menu create confusion at the counter.

Keep the total honest from cart to receipt

Guests compare the number in the cart with the number on the receipt. They should match to the cent. If a fee is allowed, show it in the cart, at checkout and on the receipt, using the same name each time.

Read your checkout text out loud. Does a guest understand every line without help? If a line needs explaining, shorten it or move the explanation above the pay button.

Update what your team says

Staff will field questions on the phone and at the pickup shelf. Give them one short answer, such as: "Our prices include card payment costs, so the total you saw is the total you pay." A single script prevents mixed messages.

Also check any printed signs that mention a card fee. Remove them from the counter, the window and any table cards. Old signs can contradict your new checkout page.

Why this matters for guest data

Your own ordering page gives you the guest's name, order history and contact details, which you keep. A clean, fair checkout protects that relationship. A guest who feels surprised by a fee may go back to a third-party delivery app next time, and you lose the data.

Test once more after any price change. Place one pickup order, one curbside order and one scheduled order. Confirm that each shows the right total and the right receipt.

A short weekly habit

Set a reminder to place one test order each week for the next month. Payment settings can reset after software updates or provider changes. A two-minute check catches a stray fee before a guest does.

Keep a simple note of the date, the order type and the total you saw. If a guest disputes a charge, that note helps you answer quickly. It also shows when a setting changed.