From October 1, the surcharging ban applies across designated card networks, and the cost you used to pass to the customer becomes a cost you carry. That is the mechanic worth understanding before the marketing lands on top of it.
SmartCompany reported that CBA will drop its merchant service fee from 1.1% to 0.99% per transaction to coincide with the ban. The change applies to in-store transactions only, includes GST, and is limited to business customers on the bank's Single Rate Transaction plan.
What it changes
Before, a surcharge let you recover roughly the card-processing cost from the customer. After October 1, you cannot. So the merchant fee moves from a line the customer paid to a line that comes out of your margin. On $50,000 of monthly in-store card turnover, the difference between 1.1% and 0.99% is about $55 a month, or $660 a year. Useful, not transformative.
The RBA banned surcharging for eftpos, Mastercard and Visa in its March decision. As the article notes, the ban does not make payment processing free; it moves who wears the cost. One Victorian operator quoted, Yarra Valley Rides, has chosen to drop card payments entirely rather than absorb the fee. That is one answer. Repricing, or simply accepting the margin hit, are others.
The borrower's-eye view
Card costs sit inside the same working-capital picture as rent, stock and repayments. A fee cut that lands the same month as a cost you can no longer pass on is a wash for many, a small net gain for some. If you fund inventory or equipment on the strength of your card turnover, the number that matters is your all-in cost per dollar processed after October 1, not the headline rate. Model your own volume before you assume the change moves the needle.