Before 1 October: what to change at the till, on receipts and in your signage
Compayr Research · · 5 min
Plenty of coverage explains that card surcharging ends on 1 October 2026. Far less explains what you actually need to change in your venue. If you currently pass on a surcharge, a few practical things are worth reviewing before the date so customers and staff aren't caught out — and so your pricing isn't misleading.
Things to review before 1 October
- Point-of-sale and terminal prompts. If your EFTPOS terminal or POS adds a surcharge automatically, that setting needs turning off. Your provider can confirm how.
- Receipts and dockets. Remove any 'card surcharge' or 'card fee' line so it doesn't keep printing.
- Physical signage. Take down counter signs, stickers and table cards that advertise a card surcharge.
- Menus and price lists. Update printed menus, price boards and any 'prices subject to X% card fee' fine print.
- Website and online checkout. Remove surcharge notices from your site, booking flow and online-order checkout.
- Staff briefing. Make sure the team knows the change and can answer 'why has the price changed?' at the counter.
What you can still charge
The ban is specific to card-payment surcharging on the major networks. Based on the reporting, you can still [1]:
- Apply a weekend or public-holiday surcharge, as long as it is not presented as a card-payment cost.
- Charge booking or service fees that are genuinely unrelated to payment processing.
- Set a minimum card payment amount.
A word on pricing conduct
One thing to be careful of: simply renaming a card surcharge as an 'admin' or 'handling' fee to get around the ban can raise misleading-pricing concerns. The ACCC has flagged that surcharges and fees must be genuine and clearly disclosed [2]. If in doubt, check the ACCC's current guidance or your own advisers.
And the cost itself
Once the surcharge is gone, the cost of accepting cards sits with the business — so it is a good moment to check the rate you are on.
Review your cost of acceptance — compare the providers we track by estimated card acceptance cost at your turnover, with rental and hardware shown separately. Compare now →
Related: what changes on 1 October and the October 2026 Reform Hub.
General information only — not financial or legal advice. Confirm your obligations with the ACCC or your own advisers, and terminal settings with your provider.
References
- [1] SmartCompany, "Card surcharges end on October 1. Here's everything you need to know", 1 September 2026.
- [2] Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), guidance on payment surcharges. https://www.accc.gov.au/
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