Quick answer
Businesses should prepare before 1 October 2026 by measuring current payment costs, modelling lost surcharge recovery, negotiating provider fees and deciding whether general pricing needs to change.
30-minute readiness audit
- Download the last three merchant statements.
- Calculate total card fees divided by total card sales.
- Estimate how much surcharge revenue you currently recover.
- List provider fixed fees, terminal fees and online gateway fees.
- Run a FeeReady scenario using current rates.
- Run a second scenario with lower provider fees and no surcharge recovery.
- Document the smallest price adjustment that protects margin.
Questions to ask your payment provider
- What will my merchant service fee look like after 1 October 2026?
- Will interchange reductions be passed through automatically?
- How will new statement information be shown?
- Are there lower-cost plans for my transaction mix?
- Do I need to change checkout or POS surcharge settings?
Questions to ask your accountant or adviser
- Should card costs be absorbed, priced into all sales or offset through provider savings?
- How would a general price increase affect GST-inclusive pricing and margin reporting?
- What customer communication is appropriate?