How to Prepare Your Business for the Card Surcharge Changes

From 1 October 2026, under the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) reforms, surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa payments (debit, prepaid and credit) will be removed. American Express has also separately decided to remove surcharging from the same date.

If you’ve been following the changes since they were announced earlier this year, that probably isn’t news to you. What matters now is what you do before they arrive.

For businesses that currently use card surcharges to recover some or all of the cost of accepting card payments, the change raises an obvious question: if you can no longer pass those costs on through a surcharge, where do they go instead?

There isn’t a single answer that will work for every business. Your current payment setup, card acceptance costs, margins and pricing can all play a role in determining what the changes mean for you.

With 1 October approaching, now is a good time to understand your current setup, review the potential impact and decide whether there are any changes you want to make.

Here are some practical steps which can help you prepare.

• Understand what’s changing on 1 October
• Check how your business currently handles card surcharges
• Understand what Lightspeed is changing
• Review what the change means for your costs
• Review your pricing strategy
• Prepare your business before 1 October

What’s changing on 1 October?

Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) confirmed that surcharging on eftpos, Visa and Mastercard debit, prepaid and credit payments will be removed from 1 October 2026. American Express has separately decided to remove surcharging from the same date.

From 1 October, the RBA will also lower caps on domestic interchange fees.

While lower caps on domestic interchange fees reduce one component of the cost of accepting card payments, the overall effect will vary between businesses depending on their payment setup, transaction mix and other costs.

You can find more information about the changes, including the latest updates and resources, on our RBA Surcharging information hub.

Check how your business currently handles card surcharges

Before deciding whether you need to make any changes, it helps to understand exactly how surcharging works in your business today.

If you currently apply card surcharges, consider reviewing which transactions they apply to, the rates you charge and how much of your card acceptance costs they currently recover.

It’s also worth looking at your broader payment mix. The impact may look different for a business where most customers pay by card compared with one that receives a more varied mix of payment types.

The goal at this stage is to establish a clear picture of your current setup so you can better understand what removing surcharges could mean for your business.

Understand what Lightspeed is changing

Lightspeed is making changes to its products in Australia to support these changes.

Ahead of 1 October, Lightspeed will automatically disable card surcharging for all card types in your Lightspeed software where the functionality is currently available. The setting used to enable card surcharges will also be removed or restricted as applicable.

For affected Lightspeed customers, these changes will happen automatically. You won’t need to manually disable the relevant surcharge functionality yourself.

The exact experience may vary depending on the Lightspeed product and payment setup you use. 

Review what the change means for your costs

Removing a surcharge doesn’t mean the cost of accepting a card payment disappears, and that makes understanding your actual payment costs an important part of preparing for the change.

Rather than looking at your existing surcharge rate alone, review what it currently costs your business to accept card payments and how much of that cost is being recovered through surcharging.

You can then consider the effect of the upcoming changes alongside the RBA’s reductions to interchange fees and your other operating costs.

For some businesses, the overall impact may be relatively small. For others, particularly those processing a high proportion of transactions by card, it may be more noticeable.

Understanding that impact before 1 October gives you a much stronger foundation for deciding whether anything else in your business needs to change.

Review your pricing strategy

Once you understand how the surcharge changes may affect your costs, it’s worth reviewing whether your current pricing still works for your business.

This doesn’t automatically mean increasing your prices.

Pricing decisions can involve a much broader range of considerations, including your margins, operating costs, customer expectations and the profitability of individual products or menu items.

For hospitality businesses, this could mean reviewing food and beverage costs alongside the margins generated by different menu items. For retailers, it might mean looking at product margins, supplier costs and the wider cost of making each sale.

The important thing is to look at the change in the context of your business rather than treating the removal of card surcharges in isolation.

Depending on your circumstances, you may decide your current pricing continues to work. You may decide some costs can be managed within your current pricing. Or you may determine that your broader pricing strategy needs reviewing.

There’s no single approach that will be right for every business. Taking the time to understand your numbers can help you make a more informed decision about what works for yours.

For eligible Lightspeed Hospitality customers, the Menu Pricing Assistant can also help you review menu performance and explore how potential pricing changes could affect your business.

Prepare your business before 1 October

October is approaching, and reviewing your setup now can give you time to understand the impact and make considered decisions before the changes take effect.

As a starting point, businesses can:

• Review whether and how they currently surcharge card payments
• Understand how much of their card acceptance costs are currently recovered through surcharging
• Familiarise themselves with the changes Lightspeed will be making
• Review their current card acceptance costs and payment mix
• Consider the potential impact on their margins
• Review their broader pricing strategy
• Explore the tools and resources available to help them prepare

You don’t need to have every answer immediately, but understanding where your business stands today can make it much easier to decide what, if anything, needs to change before 1 October.

Lightspeed does not provide tax, legal, accounting or financial advice. This post has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, accounting or financial advice. The information in this article is current as at the date of publication. Regulatory requirements and guidance may change, so refer to the Reserve Bank of Australia and other relevant authorities for the latest information.