RBA warns over major change in just days<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThe way it\u2019s currently done, the business might charge $100 and there might be a card fee of 15 cents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing forward, the business can simply charge $100 and it can absorb the card fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that in effect means that they are only going to actually make $99.85 out of the transaction. <\/p>\n
\u201cOr alternatively, they can simply seek to pass it on to customers by increasing the price up to $100.15. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo everybody, basically, will be paying the higher price whether they are paying by card or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Fumin Rianto, YouGov\u2019s research director, said a recent survey found 53 per cent of Australians aged 18 and over expected to change their spending behaviour from October 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re talking 10 million plus people there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s even higher for Gen Z and millennials \u2013 65 per cent of Gen Z and 63 per cent of millennials. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo a lot of people expect their behaviour to change in one way or another after the ban comes into effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The YouGov survey found 29 per cent of respondents expected more fees to be included in purchases, and 26 per cent were bracing for higher prices.<\/p>\n
It also found 22 per cent of people would be less likely to avoid a particular business because of card fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other one that\u2019s interesting is 18 per cent expect to make more small purchases by card \u2026 with the surcharge being removed,\u201d Mr Rianto said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might not sound like a big proportion, but 18 per cent of all Australians is nearly four million people. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo millions of people expect to make more small purchases. And I think 11 per cent expect to spend more when paying by card \u2026 So about two million people expect to spend more on paying by card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cash is king<\/p>\n
Another YouGov finding was that 17 per cent of Aussies expected there to be \u201cmore discounts or incentives for using particular payment methods\u201d.<\/p>\n
Steve Worthington, a professor at Swinburne University of Technology, was on the same page and even mused that cash could come back into fashion from October.<\/p>\n
Card surcharges, or the cost of processing a transaction, currently go directly to the terminal provider, but from Wednesday, businesses will have to either absorb or pass on this cost.<\/p>\n
Prof Worthington said merchants might get around this by offering discounts for customers who pay in cash, \u201cwhich could ultimately see businesses and consumers rethink how they pay\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know how merchants are going to deal with this idea of no surcharging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may well be a number of them adding a little extra money onto the price of the products \u2026 but I think that we\u2019ve all as consumers kind of wised up to this thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) has said it is perfectly legal to offer discounts on cash. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that applies to tradies as well as to merchants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The RBA noted in its May report on consumer behaviour that the number of cash payments rose to 15 per cent in 2025, the first upward trend in decades.<\/p>\n
Card payments were at 73 per cent, but had fallen slightly from 76 per cent in 2022.<\/p>\n
Prof Worthington said the catch to his theory was that it had become harder to access cash due to a drop in the number of ATMs and bank branches, and that collecting cash can ironically be more costly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you open the start of the day, you\u2019ve got to have a float of cash in your tills, which is tied up overnight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019ve got to keep your eye on that to avoid any shrinkage of people dipping into the till. Then at the end of the day, you\u2019ve got to count all the cash. Sooner or later you\u2019re going to have to find some open bank branch to put the cash into.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of action required to actually hold cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018No one can afford to overpay\u2019<\/p>\n
Restaurant & Catering Australia president John Hart has warned the surcharge ban would squeeze businesses already struggling under strained margins.<\/p>\n
He hoped, however, the RBA\u2019s move to cap interchange fees charged by banks for card payments at a lower rate could ease some of that burden.<\/p>\n
The cap on debit and prepaid card interchange is due to fall from 0.2 per cent to 0.16 per cent (or from 10 cents to 8 cents where a fixed fee applies), from 0.8 per cent to 0.3 per cent for consumer credit cards.<\/p>\n
Mr Hart urged those in the industry to review their banking arrangements to make sure they were getting the best rate ahead of the changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time for every restaurant, cafe and caterer to pull out their merchant statement and look at it closely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk your provider what you are paying on debit versus credit, and how the lower interchange fees will be passed on from 1 October. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the savings aren\u2019t showing up, get comparison quotes and don\u2019t be afraid to switch. No one in this industry can afford to be overpaying.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millions of Australians will change their spending habits once the nation\u2019s ban on card surcharges comes into 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