Australians have become very familiar with the small extra charge that appears after tapping a card for a coffee, meal or drink. From 1 October 2026, that familiar little sting will largely disappear. Under changes to Australia’s payments system, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa will prohibit businesses from adding a surcharge when customers pay using their cards. American Express has also announced that it will remove surcharging from the same date. For customers, the appeal is obvious: the price on the menu should be the price they pay. For hospitality operators, however, the equation is not quite so tidy. As the Reserve Bank of Australia plainly acknowledges, “Businesses will still incur costs when accepting card payments after surcharging is removed.” Those costs may become lower under related payment reforms, but they will not vanish with the surcharge button. That leaves restaurants, cafés, pubs and bars with several decisions to make. They can absorb the remaining fees, factor them into menu prices or search for a more competitive payment provider. Some South Australian operators have even raised the possibility of cash-only trading, although that is unlikely to suit a market in which many customers expect to tap and go. The smartest response is unlikely to be a last-minute price increase. This is an opportunity for venues to examine what every transaction actually costs, compare providers and decide how those costs should be reflected across the business. Operators will also need to update payment terminals, point-of-sale settings, menus and signage before the October change. Staff should understand the new rules well enough to answer customer questions without turning the bill into a tableside economics debate. Importantly, the reform relates specifically to card-payment surcharges. It does not remove legitimate weekend or public-holiday surcharges, which help venues meet higher wage costs on those days. The surcharge ban will deliver clearer prices for customers. Whether it delivers a fairer result for small hospitality businesses will depend on how far payment costs fall—and how carefully operators respond. The surcharge may be leaving the bill, but somebody still has to pick it up.
