You Can No Longer Add a Card Surcharge. So, Should You Increase Your Prices?
If you run a cafe, salon, retail shop or other small business, the cost of accepting cards has not disappeared. What has changed is how you recover it.
Written by: Melissa Cunliffe (CA)
What has changed?
From 1 October 2026, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos network rules prevent separate surcharges on their card payments. The ACCC confirms businesses can still factor payment-processing costs into ordinary prices but cannot mislead customers about prices or the reasons for an increase.
Card Surcharge Costs and Business Pricing Decisions
Why should you care?
A flat increase is tempting, but the better starting point is to know what it actually costs you to make a sale. A cafe with a $5 coffee and a previous 1.5% card surcharge collected about 7.5 cents extra per card sale. Adding 30 cents to every coffee is a different commercial decision: it is a 6% price increase. That might be justified by wages, rent and ingredients, but it should not be explained as merely replacing a 1.5% surcharge.
What we are seeing in practice
Imagine a family-run cafe with rising supplier costs and customers becoming more price conscious. The owner asks, “Do I put everything up by 20 cents, or absorb the fees?” There is no universal answer. First check which products sell most, the gross profit each contributes, actual merchant charges and what customers are willing to pay.
What can you do now?
Ask the merchant provider for an up-to-date statement of charges, including monthly terminal fees.
Work out which payment costs you were previously passing on and which you already absorbed.
Review prices product by product, including GST treatment and published menus or price lists.
Check the gross profit impact a month later rather than assuming the increase worked.
Something to think about
What would happen to your profit if you absorbed every card fee for the next twelve months — and what would happen to sales if you increased every price instead?
At 4P’s Future Accounting, we help family businesses understand the numbers, protect what they have built and plan for what comes next. The right answer depends on your circumstances, so obtain specific advice before acting.
Unsure how changing card payment rules could affect your business?
Contact 4P's Future Accounting to review your costs, pricing and profit margins.
Disclaimer
This article does not constitute financial advice and is for general information only. It does not take into account any individual’s personal objectives, situation or needs, and is not intended as professional advice. Any similarity to an individual’s personal circumstances and the examples provided in this article is purely coincidental. Any person acting upon such information without receiving specific advice, does so entirely at their own risk.
Authorisation under an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) is not required in the provision of this article and the author plus Future Accounting Group Pty Ltd is not acting in its capacity as an Australian Financial Services Licence holder
Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.
