Right now, construction businesses often pass on part of the cost of accepting card payments by adding a surcharge to an invoice.
From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be able to add a surcharge to card payments on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks, covering debit, prepaid and credit cards. American Express has confirmed it will apply the same restriction, even though it sits outside the Reserve Bank of Australia’s formal regulation.
The cost of accepting card payments does not disappear when the surcharge does. It shifts onto the business, unless pricing is adjusted before the change takes effect.
For construction businesses, this is likely a pricing decision, and it is worth adjusting before the deadline rather than after.
The RBA has removed its long-standing prohibition on “no-surcharge” rules. That prohibition is what allowed merchants to pass card acceptance costs on as a separate line item. Once it lifts, each card network is free to ban surcharging on its own network, and all four have said they will.
The RBA does not regulate businesses directly. The card networks set the rules, your acquirer or payment service provider enforces them, and most providers have indicated they will simply switch surcharging functionality off.
Two things follow from that. There is no exemption to apply for, and there is no realistic workaround.
The ban applies only to surcharges added because a customer paid by card. It does not touch:
You can also still offer a discount for a preferred payment method. Steering customers towards bank transfer with a discount remains available. Steering them with a penalty does not.
If your progress claims are settled by EFT, the direct impact is small. Plenty of construction businesses will barely notice it.
The businesses that will notice are the ones taking card regularly:
If you issue an invoice before 1 October but the customer pays by card after that date, the surcharge may no longer be available to you. On construction payment terms, that captures work you are quoting and claiming right now. Check with your payment provider before you build a surcharge into anything with a settlement date past September.
Merchant fees do not go away. Once surcharging ends, the cost stops appearing as a separate line on the customer’s invoice and is instead absorbed by the business.
Absorbing that cost is a margin question, and it should be treated like one. Where merchant fees currently sit in an overhead as an unexamined line, this is a good time to work out what they cost as a share of card revenue and decide where they belong in pricing.
For a business doing a meaningful share of turnover on card, absorbing the fee quietly is a decision to run a thinner margin. If that’s the right call for your business, it should be made deliberately, rather than happen by default.
The RBA is also cutting domestic interchange fee caps from the same date and introducing transparency measures requiring networks and large acquirers to publish fee information. Both are intended to reduce what merchants pay. Whether your business sees that benefit depends on your provider and your plan, which is exactly why the next few weeks are worth spending a little time working out.
If you accept card payments on eftpos, Mastercard, Visa or American Express, yes. There is no small business carve out and no construction specific exemption.
No. Exemptions are a matter for each card network, not the RBA, and none has flagged a general exemption. Assume the change applies to you from 1 October 2026.
Yes. Card payments between businesses are treated the same way unless a card network’s rules or the law provide otherwise. If you take card payments from builders or head contractors, the ban applies.
If the card payment happens on or after 1 October 2026, the surcharge may not be available even though you issued the invoice earlier. Confirm the position with your payment provider, because some have indicated they will disable surcharging functionality entirely from that date.
The RBA does not currently regulate surcharges on non-card payment methods. Check with your payment provider and the ACCC guidance on price displays before you do anything here.
Yes. Discounts for a preferred payment method remain available and are the cleaner way to steer customers. The same ACCC pricing display rules apply.
No. Those are fees your provider charges you for a service. They are unaffected.
That is one option, and the RBA’s stated expectation is that card costs get built into overall pricing. Whether a flat increase is right for you depends on your mix of card and EFT revenue and where your margin sits. It is worth modelling rather than guessing.
In practice, most businesses will find the functionality has been switched off by their provider. Where it has not, you are exposed to your merchant agreement and the card network rules. Do not plan around it.
Card fees are a small number until you look at them next to a thin margin on a job. If you want a hand working out what this costs your business and where it should sit in your pricing, speak with our team.
This article provides general information only. It is not legal, financial or other professional advice and should not be relied on as such. Card network rules are current at the time of writing and may change. Contact your payment service provider for information specific to your arrangements.
