Merchant Knowledge Centre
Plain-English guides to the October 2026 payment reforms and what they mean for your card costs, from surcharging to switching providers.
How to pay less for card payments in Australia
Compare what each provider would cost at your turnover, see your lowest cost option and switch. Free, with no broker and no callback.
Merchant fees after the surcharge ban: guide for accountants
Card fees used to be passed to the customer at the counter. They are now an expense the business pays. For many small businesses, merchant fees are a new and growing line on the profit and loss.
After 1 October: your merchant payments checklist
Whether the surcharge ban is a compliance chore or a few thousand dollars of annual savings depends entirely on what you do between now and 30 September. Here is the complete checklist, in order, with the time each step takes.
Why travel agents may start refusing your credit card — and what it means for your points and perks
The surcharge ban has a strange side effect the headlines are only half-covering. Much of the coverage has focused on shrinking credit-card perks — fewer points, less lounge access, complimentary travel insurance under threat. But underneath that consumer story is a merchant one: for travel agents working on razor-thin commissions, a credit-card payment can now cost more than the sale earns them. Some are considering refusing credit cards altogether. Here's how the two halves connect — and why it matters whichever side of the counter you're on.
When "just absorb it" doesn't work: card fees for high-ticket, thin-margin businesses
Most surcharge-ban advice assumes you can absorb the cost or quietly build it into your prices. For a cafe adding 30 cents to a coffee, that's true. But for businesses selling big-ticket items on thin margins — travel, jewellery, furniture, large trade invoices, events — the maths can break down completely. On a high-value credit-card sale, the acceptance fee can be larger than the profit on the sale itself. This guide is about what to do when absorbing the fee isn't a rounding error, but the difference between a sale and a loss.
Shift4 and Tyro merchants: how to calculate your real costs after the surcharge ban
The surcharge model ended on 1 October. The harder question is what you now pay. Here's how to work it out in four steps with numbers you already have.
Why are my card fees higher since the surcharge ban?
Bill shock is the jump in card fees merchants are seeing on their first statements after 1 October 2026. Surcharging ended, so the business now pays the card fee its customers used to cover.