Australia Will End Card Surcharges on Oct. 1

Australian shoppers will no longer face added debit or credit card charges at checkout beginning Oct. 1. Businesses must absorb those processing costs or include them in their listed prices. They may also reduce the price for customers who pay with cash or services such as PayID.

That choice could be especially important for small retailers, cafes, and restaurants, which have been more likely to pass card costs to customers. Handling cash brings its own workload, including maintaining change and making bank deposits, while cash represents about 15 percent of counter purchases. Card payments account for 73 percent.

A separate change lowers the maximum interchange fee from 0.80 percent to 0.30 percent, or roughly three cents on a $10 purchase. The Reserve Bank of Australia expects the surcharge ban to save consumers more than $1 billion, but payment providers may recover lost revenue elsewhere. Banks have already been reducing credit-card rewards and increasing annual fees. Later, published card-network pricing is expected to give businesses clearer information about merchant charges.