Cash discounts and refunds: Your card surcharge ban cheat sheet

Consumers and businesses are wrapping their heads around the Reserve Bank’s ban on card payment surcharges today and figuring out how it works.

From October 1, you should no longer see an additional charge applied to card payments. If your coffee costs $5, that’s what you should expect to pay – at least, in theory.

In practice, you may well still see a surcharge on your purchases as merchants and retailers adjust their approach.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet on how the ban will work.

What has changed today?

The Reserve Bank has changed the rules to now allow card networks – Mastercard, Visa and Eftpos – to ban surcharges for credit, debit and prepaid card payments made in store, online, or via mobile wallets. PayPal, American Express, UnionPay are also removing surcharges from October 1.

It means merchants are no longer allowed to charge an extra fee when you tap or insert your card at the point of sales, so the prices you see should be the price you pay.

Retailers must clearly display how much an item or service costs with any applicable surcharge; so if you’re buying a $5 coffee, the displayed price should look like “$5.05 with card surcharge”. They must also disable surcharging on their terminals and take down any payment surcharge notices on display.

Behind the scenes, the new regime lowers processing costs for merchants by capping “interchange fees” – which are the fees paid between banks every time the customer taps or swipes their bank card. That fee now goes from 0.8 per cent to a flat 0.3 per cent on Australian consumer credit cards. On domestic debit and prepaid cards, the ceiling has fallen from 10¢, or 0.2 per cent, to 8¢ or 0.16 per cent.

What if I’m still being charged?

Payment providers and banks have disabled the surcharge function on the terminals they control, but some older terminal machines don’t automatically update and may not yet reflect the changes.

The RBA and the banking industry have urged patience as some businesses make the transition. Some business leaders have warned that some communities may not know about or understand the changes, particularly small business owners of migrant backgrounds or those who don’t speak English as a first language. The surcharge ban doesn’t include weekend and public holiday surcharges, which are still permitted.

Will businesses raise their prices?

The short answer is: quite likely. These payment costs haven’t disappeared; they are just no longer allowed to appear as a separate charge.

Most businesses are already facing and absorbing higher costs and overheads on many fronts and don’t feel able to absorb any more, so many will consider adjusting product or service prices and find savings elsewhere.

How do I dispute surcharges?

The ACCC and RBA can’t help you here – card networks (Visa, Mastercard and Eftpos) and payment providers (Square, Tyro, Stripe and some banks) – are in charge of enforcing the surcharge ban, and will be held responsible if surcharges continue.

In the first instance, ask the merchant or retailer to clarify the surcharged amount (before payment if possible). Request a refund on the surcharged amount if necessary, and if they refuse, the next step is to report any unauthorised surcharges to your bank or card provider.

The ACCC and state consumer protection agencies, such as NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria, will still be monitoring and enforcing consumer law to make sure businesses don’t mislead customers about prices or reasons for price rises.

Should I pay in cash?

The consumer watchdog has stated businesses are indeed allowed to offer discounts for a preferred payment method, like cash or PayID.

“Payment method discounts should be clearly disclosed before consumers choose to book, order or pay,” the ACCC states on its website.

We may well might start seeing more businesses, especially smaller ones, shifting back to cash as a result. According to Cash Welcome campaign manager Jason Bryce, this is already happening.

“Most small retailers will raise prices to cover card costs and many will offer discounts for cash payments,” he said. So if you’re keen to save your dollars, keep some notes and coins on you.

Will banks find a way to pass on the lost revenue?

They already have, and not where you might expect to see it. Major banks have already wound back the generosity of credit card sign-on bonuses and rewards points earning rates, which were being funded by the higher interchange fees, and raising annual fees.

Commonwealth Bank has overhauled its loyalty program that pushes customers to spend rewards with Virgin’s Velocity scheme instead of Qantas Frequent Flyer points, and CBA customers who bundle multiple products, such as a mortgage or term deposits, will earn more points than those who have one account.

Westpac has also announced fee hikes and cuts to benefits such as free travel insurance on its credit card line-up.

NAB has made a number of changes that impact MyCard credit card holders (formerly Citibank cards) most dramatically; its premium “Prestige” card – which included 15 airport lounge visits, free hotel stay extensions and cashback on ride-shares, on top of generous points earning rates – has been scrapped entirely. American Express has also announced a scaling back of its airport lounge benefits.

I’m a business owner. What should I do?

It’s your responsibility to make sure you don’t continue to apply surcharges from today onwards. Get in touch with your bank or payment provider to implement the changes and update pricing details where you need to.

Shop around for the best deal. Corporate spending platform Archa’s chief executive Oliver Kidd recommends asking your card provider these questions:

• Has my points earn rate changed?
• Have I lost any complimentary insurance?
• Has my interest-free period changed?
• Has my interest rate increased?
• What am I really paying on foreign exchange fees, including any new mark-ups?
• Has my credit limit changed without me knowing?

“Business owners shouldn’t assume their card still offers the same value it did a year ago,” he said.

If you’re looking more information, self-regulating body Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet) has put together an FAQ for consumers, businesses and payment providers at cardsurcharge.com.au.

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