Only a handful of banks and payment services providers have reduced their merchant fees since October 1’s surcharge reforms, according to a new analysis.
Only a handful of banks and payment service providers have reduced their merchant fees since October 1’s surcharge reforms, according to a new analysis of popular card payment plans.
The findings come as the federal government paints its payments reform as a win for transparency, even as the surcharge ban faces deep scepticism among merchants.
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Alongside the new surcharge ban, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) set new caps on interchange fees, a type of wholesale payment fee contributing to what merchants pay each time they accept a card payment.
For credit cards issued in Australia, the maximum interchange fee dropped from 0.8% of transaction value to 0.3%, marking a reduction of 0.5%.
The RBA estimates this change will ultimately save merchants $910 million each year.
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But Compayr, a new website from payments sector veteran Dougal Anderson, says only seven out of twenty popular card acceptance schemes have actually passed on savings to merchants.
Westpac leads the charge as of October 19, with its flat transaction fee falling from 1.2% to 0.79% for payments made via its point-of-sale terminals.
Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ Worldline, Zeller POS, and Shopify Basic in-person POS flat rates have also fallen, along with Stripe’s online payment flat rate.
Those reductions span from cuts of -0.05% for the Stripe online flat rate to -0.2% for the Zeller POS flat rate.
Of the schemes tracked by Compayr, only one has passed on the full 0.5% discount: Commonwealth Bank’s Interchange Plus / Interchange Plus Plus plans.
Unlike flat rates, which combine all merchant fee components bundled in one package, ‘interchange plus’ plans see merchants pay the interchange fee, plus a mark-up.
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The Compayr analysis does not consider the effect of POS terminal rental fees on top of any listed rate, or how much switching from one plan to another might cost a merchant.
Compayr earns referral fees from certain providers listed on its platform.
But Anderson said its public rankings are based purely on cost, calling on merchants to do their own research on published rates.
“Whether a provider is right for your business is a decision only you can make — we just make sure you know what it costs,” Anderson told SmartCompany.
The Compayr ranking, and other similar rate analysis tools, come ahead of the RBA’s own new transparency rules.
The central bank will call on large banks to publicise their interchange “pass-through” from January 30, 2027, giving merchants a better understanding of what fees they are paying.
Advocates of the surcharge ban, including Labor MP Jerome Laxale, said extra transparency measures will help businesses shop around to find a better deal for their card acceptance plans.
However, others within his party have suggested that transparency measures are not enough to ensure small businesses reap the benefits.
Last week, Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain suggested the RBA could go even further, by forcing the banks to absorb the cost of merchant card acceptance altogether.