The surcharge ban is not why prices are going up
Turn on the news or scroll social media and you will see the claim that businesses are lifting prices because they can no longer surcharge card payments.
That is not what is happening.
Look at what small business retailers are facing in 2026:
- Labour costs are up 5% this year.
- Rent is up 5%, often more, this year.
- Insurance is up 10%, often more, this year.
- Energy is up 10% and more this year.
- Freight to land stock in-store is up between 25% and 100% this year.
Every one of these feeds into a price decision. And every one of these has increased this year.
Labour and rent are the biggest costs in a retail business. Together they often make up more than 25% of total costs. When both rise in the same year, most shops cannot absorb it.
Then there is freight. Shoppers never see it. But if it costs a third more, or double, to get a carton of greeting cards or gifts onto the shelf, that cost has to go somewhere.
None of these costs arrive on their own. A retailer might wear a rent increase one year and an insurance jump the next. In 2026 they all landed at once. Most independent shops run on thin margins, and there is only so much a business owner can cut from rostering or trading hours before customers notice. At some point the price on the shelf has to move.
Losing the surcharge does cost retailers money. I accept that. It is still the smallest of the factors behind any price rise I have seen this year.
The news outlets running the surcharge story are showing how little they understand about running a shop. It’s lazy reporting.
if you’re a journalist and prepping a story on the removal of the EFTPOS surcharge and its impact on price rises, do your job – ask questions, find out what is really driving price increases.
I have spent more than 40 years working with independent retailers. I have not met one who lifts prices without thinking hard about how customers will react.
My advice to retailers is simple. Know your cost increases line by line, so that when a customer asks why something costs more, you can give them a straight answer.