Aggrieved business owners are calling on the federal government to rethink the new national ban on card surcharging.
Aggrieved business owners have backed a new advertising campaign calling on the federal government to “stop putting a surcharge on running a small business” after the new national ban on card surcharging.
Mortgage broker Joseph Daoud and accountant Belinda Raso are behind a new advertising spot, featuring the voices of dozens of small business owners concerned by the card surcharging ban and its consequences for merchants operating on thin margins.
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The ad, scheduled to run for a week on at least one national broadcast network, features Australian business owners saying rent, wages, and utility bills had already increased prior to the surcharging ban.
Despite the surcharge ban, “the bank fees haven’t gone anywhere,” said Tash O’Dwyer, founder of Gold Coast business The Vinyl and Thread Bar, who features in the ad.
Speaking to SmartCompany on Monday morning, Daoud, founder of Sydney mortgage brokering firm It’s Simple Finance, said the government could do more to support small businesses affected by the change.
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“If they wanted to get rid of the surcharge, you ban it at the source,” he said, referring to the fees banks actually charge merchants when they accept card payments.
“You don’t make small business owners absorb the cost. It’s not fair to the everyday punter.”
At least one federal government minister has suggested additional reforms.
Responding to the new ad campaign this morning, Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain told Sunrise the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could step in to stop merchant fees altogether.
“We know the RBA has reduced the fees that banks can charge, but they should have taken that next step and said, ‘If you can’t charge it to the customer, then the banks shouldn’t be charging the small business who is already paying a range of account-keeping fees directly to that bank,’” she said Monday morning.
Describing that position as a “backflip”, Daoud asked, “Why didn’t they do that at the start? Why did they go after small business owners at the start?”
The bootstrapped ad campaign will run for a week and is accompanied by billboard ads in Canberra Airport, greeting federal politicians as they return for the next parliamentary sitting week.
Daoud, a Liberal Party member who previously spent $17,500 on billboards decrying the 2026-27 federal budget, said the new campaign has no official party backing.
“Do you know what I am? I’m a person that’s standing up for Australians,” Daoud said.