Australia’s card surcharge ban forces cafes, shops into price increases
Por Bloomberg — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Australia Asia Australasia Australia’s card surcharge ban forces cafes, shops into price increases
The change, one of the biggest shake-ups in decades, comes at a difficult time for businesses already grappling with rising costs
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Bloomberg Published: 10:44am, 1 Oct 2026 Updated: 10:59am, 1 Oct 2026 Ross Surace is preparing to raise the price of a coffee by 50 Australian cents and a panini by A$1 (US$0.70) when the country bans credit card surcharge fees starting on Thursday.
The co-owner of Lennox Street Deli in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds neighbourhood said bank-imposed card fees already cost his business more than A$1,000 (US$690) a week, even after the cafe recoups some of the expense by adding a 1.9 per cent surcharge to customers’ card payments. Once that option disappears, Surace estimates the cafe could pay an additional A$1,200 to A$1,500 a week to process transactions.
The coffee and panini price increase “just covers the surcharge that we’re losing”, he said.
Thousands of smaller Australian businesses face a similar choice: absorb the cost of customers tapping their cards, squeezing already thin margins, or build it into prices and risk driving away cash-strapped consumers.
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