We supported banning card surcharges because hiding payment costs in a final screen was unfair and opaque. From 1 October, that specific line item is gone—but the economic pressure on thin-margin businesses did not disappear, and shoppers should watch how it reappears.
Minimum card spends, “cash discounts” that are really surcharges in reverse, and sudden menu price bumps on only the items people card-pay for can recreate the same squeeze without breaking the letter of the rules. The ACCC’s guidance is clear that businesses cannot mislead consumers about the true price of goods; enforcement now needs the same energy regulators showed when surcharges were rampant.
Price rises are allowed—misleading framing is not
Raising a coffee from $4.50 to $4.70 to absorb interchange is legal if the board price reflects what everyone pays. It is not legal to advertise $4.50 then add a covert fee at the terminal, nor to charge $4.70 only when someone taps while cash buyers still see $4.50 unless the cash price is genuinely a discount disclosed upfront.
Consumer groups report early examples of venues posting “card price” and “cash price” boards without explaining that both are meant to be inclusive, confusing tourists and seniors who assume the lower number is the lawful shelf price.
What we want regulators to do
The ACCC should publish a weekly digest of upheld surcharge complaints with anonymised merchant categories so patterns are visible. State fair trading offices should coordinate mystery shopping on ticketing and delivery apps where service fees ballooned just as surcharges vanished.
Treasury’s post-implementation review must count minimum-spend prevalence, not only surcharge lines. If data show a spike in $10 card minimums at bakeries and newsagents, that is policy feedback, not noise.
A fair deal for small business too
Merchants deserve transparent wholesale pricing from payment platforms and banks, not a maze of interchange tiers. Policymakers should pair surcharge abolition with simpler merchant statements so owners know what they are absorbing when they reprice.
Shoppers gained a clear win today. Keeping it requires vigilance on the workarounds that follow every well-intended checkout reform.
Receipt literacy
We also want supermarkets and fuel stations to print the all-in card price on shelf labels, not only at the pump or aisle end, so shoppers can compare baskets without mental arithmetic at busy checkouts.
Education campaigns aimed at international students should explain that tap-to-pay is now meant to cost the same as any other method, reducing disputes at campus retailers still learning the rules.