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. In practice, you'll no longer be able to add a card surcharge to those payments. To support these changes, Lightspeed will automatically disable card surcharging for all card types in your Lightspeed software from 1 October 2026. Accepting cards and running your business continues as normal.

No. The change applies to surcharges added for paying by card. Other charges (like weekend, public holiday, booking or service fees) are different because they aren't about the payment method. You can still apply these charges as you can today—whether your customer pays by card, cash or another method. These should comply with applicable pricing laws.

This change doesn't require any new equipment. Your existing hardware (iPads, terminals and printers) continues to work as normal.

The RBA's change applies to eftpos, Mastercard and Visa. American Express isn't covered by the RBA's decision, but has separately decided to remove surcharging from 1 October 2026 too — so in practice, surcharging on Amex ends on the same date.

Lightspeed will disable card surcharging for all card types from 1 October 2026, including card payments made through mobile wallets. Other payment services, such as Buy Now Pay Later, PayPal, e-commerce platforms and mobile wallet platforms, aren’t covered by the RBA card surcharge changes and continue under their own rules. The RBA is separately reviewing broader payment regulation, including some of these services. We’ll update this guidance as further information becomes available.

It's the fee that goes to your customer's bank (the one that issued their card) each time they pay by card. The card networks (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, eftpos) set these rates, so they aren't something an individual business negotiates. From 1 October 2026, the RBA is lowering the caps on domestic interchange fees, which reduces one of the underlying costs of accepting cards.

It comes down to how your card fees are worked out. With a fixed (or blended) rate, you pay the same set percentage on every card payment. It's simple and predictable, but because the rate is fixed, a drop in underlying fees won't automatically lower what you pay.

With interchange-plus, your fee has two parts: applicable card fees, such as interchange and scheme fees, plus a processing fee. It's more detailed to read on a statement, but because underlying card fees are passed through, a drop in those fees is generally reflected in what you pay.

Rates depend on your business type and setup, so there's no single number we can quote here. Reach out to your Sales or Account Manager and they'll walk you through the options for your account.