I have covered this on video. Today I am putting it in writing, because the pitches landing in retailer inboxes right now make me think plenty of people could use a plain statement of the facts.
First up though, what actually changes on 1 October?
From 1 October 2026, surcharging on card payments ends. The RBA is removing surcharging across eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, covering debit, prepaid and credit cards. American Express has said it will do the same from the same date. If you surcharge today, you cannot from that date. Your card acceptance costs do not disappear. They move into your pricing, like rent and wages already do.
At the same time, the RBA is cutting the caps on domestic interchange fees, the wholesale cost underneath your merchant fees. Debit and prepaid interchange will be capped at 8 cents a transaction and consumer credit at 0.3%. This is meant to lower acceptance costs, with small businesses expected to benefit most.
From 1 April 2027, caps on foreign-issued cards follow, along with transparency rules requiring the card schemes and large acquirers to publish their fees and give businesses standardised statement information so plans can actually be compared.
Those are the facts. Now the warning.
WARNING: Be careful who you listen to.
There are people pitching EFTPOS plans right now who are being dishonest at worst, or incomplete in what they share at best. I have heard of pitches criticising a competitor’s plan with statements not supported by the facts.
I understand why it works. Retailers do not have time to check every claim. You are on the floor, serving, ordering, rostering. So you rely on others. That reliance is exactly what a loose pitch trades on.
Which brings me back to a question I keep returning to on this blog: who is making money from the pitch?
Many of the plans being pitched today make money for the organisation promoting them. A POS software company clipping each transaction. A group or association earning a referral fee or a rebate. A “comparison” service paid by the provider it recommends. None of that makes the plan wrong. It does mean the recommendation is not free of interest, and you deserve to know that before you weigh it.
Questions I think you need to ask anyone pitching you.
- Do you, or any related party, earn anything if I sign? How much, and how is it calculated? Get it in writing.
- Show me the full cost on my actual transaction mix, not a headline rate. A cheap rate on one card type can hide an expensive one on another.
- Is this cost-plus pricing? Cost-plus, where the provider charges its actual cost plus a stated margin, is the most transparent structure going, and the new interchange cuts flow straight through to you under it. Under a flat blended rate, ask who keeps the saving when interchange falls on 1 October. If the answer is vague, you have your answer.
- What happens at the end of any honeymoon rate, and what does it cost to leave?
Now, for the record: Neither I nor newsXpress makes any money whatsoever from the EFTPOS recommendations we share with members and retailers. No clip, no rebate, no referral fee. I want retailers on the lowest possible payments cost because every basis point saved lands in your pocket on every sale, without selling one extra item. That is the whole position.
What to do before 1 October.
If you surcharge, work out now what the ban does to your margin and adjust your pricing before the date, not after. If you do not surcharge, this is still the moment to review your plan, because interchange is falling and someone will bank that saving. Make sure it is you.
Get every claim in writing. Check the numbers against your own merchant statements. And ask, every time: who makes money from this pitch?