From 1 October 2026, an important change to card payments will take effect across Australia.

Businesses will no longer be able to apply a surcharge to customers paying by Visa, Mastercard, eftpos or American Express.

For businesses that currently recover card-processing costs through a separate surcharge, this is more than a change at the payment terminal. It may have implications for pricing, contracts, invoices, profit margins and cash flow.

The Processing Cost Is Not Disappearing

The key point for business owners is that card-processing fees themselves are not disappearing.

Your business will still incur costs when customers choose to pay by card. What changes is your ability to pass those costs directly on to the customer as a separate card surcharge.

For businesses processing a significant volume of card transactions, particularly those operating on tight margins, absorbing these fees without adjusting elsewhere could have a noticeable financial impact over the course of a year.

Now is the time to understand what card payments are really costing your business and decide how those costs will be managed from October.

Review the Impact on Your Pricing

If card surcharges currently contribute towards recovering your payment-processing costs, consider how much surcharge revenue your business receives over a typical month or year.

Once that revenue disappears, will your existing pricing still deliver the margin you expect?

Businesses may need to consider incorporating payment costs into their overall pricing rather than treating them as a separate transaction fee.

This does not necessarily mean simply increasing every price by the amount of your current surcharge. It is an opportunity to review the broader cost of delivering your products or services and ensure your pricing continues to support the margins and cash flow your business requires.

The earlier this is modelled, the more time you have to make considered pricing decisions rather than reacting after the change takes effect.

Check Your Contracts and Customer Agreements

Businesses should also review contracts, engagement terms, service agreements and other customer documentation that currently refers to card surcharges or payment fees.

Any terms that assume a card surcharge can be added to an invoice or transaction may need to be updated.

This is particularly relevant for businesses with recurring agreements, ongoing service contracts, subscriptions or long payment terms extending beyond 1 October.

Do not assume that an existing contractual reference to a card surcharge means it will remain available after the new rules take effect.

Review Invoices and Payment Processes

Your invoicing processes also need attention.

An invoice may be issued before 1 October but remain unpaid until after the change takes effect. Where payment is subsequently made by card, the surcharge may no longer be available.

Businesses should therefore review:

  • invoice templates and payment instructions
  • references to card surcharges in terms and conditions
  • accounting and invoicing software settings
  • online payment portals
  • payment-provider configurations
  • website and customer-facing payment information.

If your payment provider currently applies surcharges automatically, check how and when that functionality will be removed.

Consider the Cash Flow Impact

Individually, card-processing fees can appear relatively small. Across hundreds or thousands of transactions, however, they can add up quickly.

If your business currently passes those costs on to customers, absorbing them from October represents a new expense to the business.

That makes this a cash flow issue as well as a pricing issue.

Consider the percentage of your revenue received by card, the average processing fee on those transactions, how much surcharge income you currently receive and the annual impact if your business begins absorbing those costs.

The payment reforms also include changes intended to reduce some merchant card costs, but businesses should still understand their own numbers rather than assuming those reductions will completely offset the loss of surcharge revenue.

What Should Businesses Do Now?

There is still time before 1 October, but businesses should start preparing now.

Review the card-processing fees applying to your business, calculate how much surcharge revenue you currently receive, assess the impact on margins and cash flow, and determine whether your pricing needs to change.

You should also review contracts, invoices, payment systems and customer communications so references to card surcharges can be removed or updated before the new rules take effect.

Businesses may also wish to compare payment providers and payment plans to ensure their existing arrangements remain competitive.

The important thing is not to wait until October to discover what the change means for your bottom line.

Plan Ahead, Rather Than Absorb the Cost by Default

Changes to payment rules can look relatively minor in isolation, but their cumulative effect can be significant, particularly for businesses processing large volumes of card payments.

Understanding the cost now gives you an opportunity to make informed decisions about pricing, margins, contracts and cash flow before the change takes effect.

If you are unsure what removing card surcharges could mean for your business, the Advivo team can help you assess the financial impact and consider how it should be factored into your planning and pricing ahead of 1 October 2026.

Contact Advivo to discuss how the card surcharge changes may affect your business.