{"id":617162,"date":"2026-10-01T06:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T06:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/617162\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T06:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T06:46:10","slug":"card-surcharge-lifts-in-australia-today-will-new-zealand-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/617162\/","title":{"rendered":"Card surcharge lifts in Australia today – will New Zealand follow?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cWork is continuing as we carefully consider the feedback received, and we\u2019re committed to getting it right,\u201d Brewer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia has taken its own approach, and we\u2019ll be watching with interest as it beds in over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brewer said the Commerce Commission\u2019s decisions to cut interchange fee caps are expected to save Kiwi businesses up to $290 million a year once fully in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cLower payment costs for businesses should mean a fairer deal for shoppers at the checkout,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Today, Labour\u2019s Commerce and Consumer Affairs spokesperson Arena Williams took aim at the National government over its stalled bill to ban surcharging.<\/p>\n
\u201cNational have spent three years trying to ban surcharges with posturing,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just going to get on and do it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Williams said Labour\u2019s Payment Systems regime from 2021 provides the \u201cperfect architecture\u201d to ban surcharges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk the Commerce Commission to regulate merchant fees. The Commerce Commission has already said they should be about 1%. That\u2019s how we would go about it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Jessica Walker, Consumer NZ\u2019s communications and campaigns manager, told the Herald support for a surcharge ban was getting stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur stance is the surcharging situation is a real mess. The best way to clean it up is an all-out ban,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat lack of consistency, a lack of transparency, is really from our perspective a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker said New Zealand was \u201cquite far behind\u201d Australia and the United Kingdom, where the surcharges were banned.<\/p>\n
Recent findings from a Consumer NZ survey found three in five Kiwis support a ban on card payment surcharges.<\/p>\n
She said as of July, just 21% of people think it\u2019s fair for businesses to pass those costs on, down from 28% in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still do receive a steady stream of people complaining to us about the high surcharges that they have encountered,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n
However, there remain significant concerns from businesses, who would be left to foot the bill if surcharges were banned.<\/p>\n
Retail New Zealand chief executive Carolyn Young has said many retailers were not in a position to absorb the merchant service fee, which businesses pay their bank or payment provider to process credit and contactless debit card transactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetailers have been clear that the proposed card surcharge ban would have been yet another blow to the struggling sector after a tough trading environment that has lasted several years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
What has Australia done?<\/p>\n
The Reserve Bank of Australia\u2019s (RBA) card surcharge reforms mean businesses are no longer permitted to add a surcharge when customers pay with eftpos, Visa or Mastercard.<\/p>\n
The move means more pricing certainty at the checkout for shoppers.<\/p>\n
The RBA is also lowering domestic interchange fee caps \u2013 being the portion of card payment costs that flows to the customer\u2019s bank.<\/p>\n
Australian Banking Association chief executive Simon Birmingham said the changes removed a common bugbear for consumers, who will no longer face an extra fee just for choosing to pay by card.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom [October 1], the price on the shelf or on the menu will be the price you pay at the checkout. That goes for paying a bill or shopping online too,\u201d Birmingham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s paying the plumber or buying a coffee, you will no longer be hit with an extra few cents or dollars for tapping your card.\u201d<\/p>\n