Card Surcharge removal = shop price hike?

As you all know Card surcharges on debit, credit, and prepaid cards (Visa, Mastercard, eftpos) are being banned in Australia from October 1, 2026. This means businesses may increase price of their services as they still pay the surchage themselves.

I'm sure most of us hand in the bananas during our visits, but in 1 or 2 occasions where I had to pay by card, the surcharge was something ridiculus (i.e. 10%).

People may be incentivised to pay by card post Oct since there is no surcharge (unless they try to avoid footprints in bank transactions).

This means the shops will likely see an increase in card payments, which is not something they want for surcharge or tax evasion purposes.

Would this result in a global price hike across shops? If yes then it'd be a big unfair for the cash payers.

Hard to imagine that happening bro. It's not like you get a receipt from shops when you pay cash. There's a reason that they prefer cash payments and it's because they can keep them off the books. So it will be difficult for the Gov to police it.

Is the shop charging more for card payments? If so, what's the baseline for comparison?

Doubt it. Shops charge unneccessarily high surcharges so more punters pay cash. Shops want cash. Most punters want cash, too. Win win.

The understanding of surcharge legislation is flawed, because the surcharges aren't going away. They still exist - it will just be up to the shop whether they absorb them into their current prices, or (more likely) build them into the pricing of their goods & services.

We may see some shops "raise their prices" but offer discounts for cash, so the net result is the same.

Not sure if shop will increase prices. What is more worrying for me and others will be less an excuse to withdraw cash and hide it from the missus. Withdrawing cash to bypass passing the surcharge was a quick way to hide the cash for punting. Now what we going to do. Oh fuck. Now, we are going to be cashless society.

Very much doubt prices will increase once the removal of surcharges comes into effect. Most businesses are generally passing on the fees applicable to them from their bank, eftpos service providers.

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Originally Posted by Tommyp63

Doubt it. Shops charge unneccessarily high surcharges so more punters pay cash. Shops want cash. Most punters want cash, too. Win win.

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Yes, most shops are already unlawfully surcharging as they are only supposed to pass on the cost of processing the payment. There is no way they are paying 10%.

I think we will see this continue. How many punters are going to go to the ACCC and complain their local brothel charged them 10% to pay with card?

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Originally Posted by Tommyp63

The understanding of surcharge legislation is flawed, because the surcharges aren't going away. They still exist - it will just be up to the shop whether they absorb them into their current prices, or (more likely) build them into the pricing of their goods & services.

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I think your understanding of a surcharge is flawed. The fees businesses pay aren’t going away but the surcharge is. The surcharge isn’t the fee, it’s the act of passing on that fee to the customer on top of the base price of the purchase.

You are correct that the cost will still be passed on to the customer through higher prices but that isn’t a surcharge that’s an increase in prices for all payment methods (including cash).

As price is gst inclusive shops if you pay by card then shop has to pay GST to ATO on price. If you pay cash then off books. 10% surcharge on cards is just them trying to get gst off you so net is same to them. Cash works best for both parties

Shops just want you to pay in cash. It's that simple. The surcharge is literally penalising in paying other than cash.

The shops will still slug you their own house surcharges.

The government wants a cashless society, better for keeping track of money movements, transaction location and analysis. So big brother has more eyes on you.

Cunts on here complain about not wanting to use Wechat or coz of stealing info. But fellas each time you tap or swipe your card, all you are becoming is rat in the system maze they created.

You all should think about who wants to control you. The Government

Use cash for non essential goods and services ie punting

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Originally Posted by TheFullMonty

As price is gst inclusive shops if you pay by card then shop has to pay GST to ATO on price. If you pay cash then off books. 10% surcharge on cards is just them trying to get gst off you so net is same to them. Cash works best for both parties

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Very good points, some Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and outer suburbs are offering cash discounts ranging from 5% to 10%, I took the advantages most of the time myself.

Whats dodgy is when shops charge 10% for card but they dont even calculate it properly and just round it up e.g session 260 for an hr and they will say 300 bux with surchage

Maybe they do like some Japanese restaurants: they raise their prices, then do discount for cash payments.

I think 10% surcharge is legit. When looking up what eftpos providers support adult industry, all the banks and large companies like tyro wouldn't service this industry, leaving only the high risk companies that do take a 10% cut

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Originally Posted by TJH2

As you all know Card surcharges on debit, credit, and prepaid cards (Visa, Mastercard, eftpos) are being banned in Australia from October 1, 2026. This means businesses may increase price of their services as they still pay the surchage themselves.

I'm sure most of us hand in the bananas during our visits, but in 1 or 2 occasions where I had to pay by card, the surcharge was something ridiculus (i.e. 10%).

People may be incentivised to pay by card post Oct since there is no surcharge (unless they try to avoid footprints in bank transactions).

This means the shops will likely see an increase in card payments, which is not something they want for surcharge or tax evasion purposes.

Would this result in a global price hike across shops? If yes then it'd be a big unfair for the cash payers.

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Heck yeah I'm single and not worried about leaving a statement trail so bet your ass I'm using my credit card whenever I can when there's no stupid surcharges, to earn those loyalty points.

Plus I am credit card slut and apply new cards from different banks every year to get those benefits. It would be much easier to reach those 5k min spend requirements with my whoring expenses having to waste it on hefty surcharges.

Doubtful the shops will increase their fees. Probably just persuade their clients to pay cash but screw that. It's freaking 2026, we should be all in on digital payment. I'm jealous of the Chinese blokes scanning qr codes with wechat or alipay or whatever system on their mobile.

While I'm constantly having to fumble with cash like a caveman, check if I got enough in my wallet, wat services I can get with that, and if I dun got enough then where the nearest atm is that doesn't charge scam withdrawal fees etc

Massage shops and brothels are cash based businesses, their staff get paid in cash.

The shops that offer card as payment option do it as a convenience to the punter, that's why there's a surcharge on it. You are paying the surcharge to avoid the convenience of stopping at the ATM before you go to the shop.

If you're complaining about surcharges in sex shops, just take cash?

They could turn around and just say no card payments, cash only like many other businesses, then you'd have to withdraw and woudn't be complaining about surcharges.