(15 October 2024 – Australia) The Australian government is seeking to stamp out excessive surcharging on debit cards.
The federal government states that it is prepared to ban debit card surcharges from 2026 subject to a review underway by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be tasked with detecting illegal and unfair surcharging practices, plus increasing education and compliance activities.
The value of debit card surcharges is estimated to be between A$1 billion to A$4 billion each year but the exact figure is surprisingly not calculated or published.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says “it punches a big hole in your wallet” when surcharges are aggregated over time.
“It might seem like a small charge every time you tap and go, but it punches a big hole in your wallet at the end of the year when you add up all of those fees. There is a discrepancy between what small businesses face who are sometimes charged twice what Coles and Woolworths are for the same transaction. Something’s very crook here. Clearly, there’s excessive charging going on here and we want to get to the bottom of it” Mr Jones said.