Reserve Bank of Australia consults on removing eftpos Mastercard and Visa surcharges and lowering interchange fee caps

The Reserve Bank of Australia has published a consultation paper in its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, setting out draft standards and policy options that would remove surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards, reduce interchange fee caps paid by businesses, and require greater fee transparency from card networks and large acquirers. The Payments System Board’s preliminary view is that removing surcharging is in the public interest, citing around AUD 1.2 billion in surcharges paid by consumers each year and arguing surcharging is no longer effectively steering customers to more efficient payment choices as cash use declines, surcharge rates are increasingly uniform across debit and credit, and enforcement of current rules is challenging. On interchange, the RBA estimates the proposed lower caps could save businesses around AUD 1.2 billion a year, with around 90% of Australian businesses better off and small businesses benefiting most because they tend to pay fees closer to existing caps; the package also contemplates caps on foreign interchange fees to lower the cost of accepting international cards. Feedback on the policy options and draft standards is requested by 26 August 2025, with the RBA intending to publish final conclusions and an implementation timeline for any regulatory steps by the end of 2025.