Payment surcharges are changing – here’s what you need to know

Big changes are coming to payment surcharging rules in Australia, and we want to make sure you have everything you need to prepare with confidence.

From 1 October 2026, new Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) requirements will prohibit surcharging on payments made via EFTPOS, Visa and Mastercard networks.

Xplor will implement the required updates from 1 October 2026, in line with the regulatory deadline. We’ll keep you informed at every step, and at this time we do not expect these reforms to result in any changes to Xplor’s fees.

What’s changing

Today, we, Debitsuccess, can add a surcharge to eligible Visa, Mastercard and AMEX card payments, so you recover some of your card processing costs from families. We facilitate this on your behalf by adding the applicable fee to the parent’s payment.

From 1 October 2026, this changes. A new RBA rule means businesses can no longer add a surcharge to Visa, Mastercard or Amex payments including Scheduled Payments and PayNow when one of these cards is used. This means these card payment costs will need to be paid by your business, not passed on to families.

What’s not changing

What this means for your business

Once surcharging is off the table, your business will need a new way to manage card payment acceptance costs. Most businesses land on one of two approaches:

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. The right approach depends on your business, your margins, and your broader pricing strategy — so it’s worth a conversation with your accountant or financial advisor before the deadline hits.

How Xplor is supporting you

Join our webinar

We’re hosting a webinar to walk through this change and what it means for your business.

📅 Thursday 30 July, 11am
Register here →

We’re closely tracking guidance from the RBA and the card networks so our platform is ready well ahead of the deadline. We’ll keep updating you as more information becomes available, and we’ve put together a dedicated FAQ page covering the questions we’re hearing most often.

Change like this takes planning, and we’re committed to making the transition as smooth as possible. If you have questions about how this affects your specific setup, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our Payments team at payments.education@xplortechnologies.com.