September 1, all Australian businesses will be banned from slugging customers with excessive surcharges for using EFTPOS and credit cards to pay for purchases.
Key points:
- Ban on excessive credit card surcharges extends to all Australian businesses September 1
- Customers should expect credit card surcharges to be no more than 1-3pc, depending on the type of card
- Consumers who think they have been overcharged should talk to the business first and can also take their complaint to the ACCC
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the ban, which has been in effect for large businesses since last September, will extend to all businesses that are either based in Australia or use an Australian bank.
The ban means businesses will only be able to charge customers what it actually costs them to process payments for EFTPOS, MasterCard, Visa and American Express cards, including bank fees and terminal costs.
“For example, if a business’s cost of acceptance for Visa credit is 1.5 per cent, consumers can only be charged a surcharge of 1.5 per cent on payments made using a Visa credit card,” ACCC deputy chairman Michael Schaper said.
“Our message to business is that you are not allowed to add on any of your own internal costs when calculating what surcharge you will charge customers.
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