Aussie woman almost slugged with $150 card surcharge at her local mechanic: I was shocked
A former accountant has saved $150 after she cannily spotted the 16.
A former accountant has saved $150 after she cannily spotted the 16.5 per cent surcharge to use contactless payment at her local mechanic.
Wendy Armitage saw the sign notifying of the charge just as she was preparing to use tap-and-go to pay $900 for an excess car repair bill in Adelaide this month.
I was quite shocked, to be honest, Ms Armitage told the ABC.
Taken aback, she asked the business owner if the decimal point had been placed correctly and was assured that it had.
Realising that tapping her credit or debit card to pay the $900 would incur an extra cost of $148.50 she inserted her card, which only added an extra 30 cents to the bill.
I saved myself quite a lot of money to dine out on, she said.
The Reserve Bank of Australia estimates that Aussies shell out almost $1billion in card surcharges each year.
It comes as the Albanese government announced on Tuesday it was considering banning debit card surcharges due to the excessive fees.
Adelaide woman Wendy Armitage (pictured) was shocked to see that paying her $900 car repair excess would cost her nearly an extra $150 if she used tap-and-go card payment
Ms Armitage saw the sign notifying of the charge just as she was preparing to use tap-and-go to pay $900 for an excess car repair bill at a mechanics in Adelaide (stock image)
A ban would begin January 2026 but is pending a review of retail payments being made by the RBA, which is examining the costs merchants face from card payments and the surcharging arrangements.
In an environment of heightened concern around the cost of living, card payment costs and surcharging are attracting more attention from merchants and consumers, it said.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told the ABC that consumers were rightly concerned about the fairness of such charges and that small businesses were often blamed for them.
We dont want the small businesses to be the meat in the sandwich here, he said.
However, Australian Banking Association head Anna Bligh claimed many businesses were surcharging over the costs levied by banks and other payments providers.
We know that many businesses are surcharging over and above what theyre allowed to do, she said.
Inserting a card into an EFTPOS machine typically costs a merchant less than 0.5 per cent per transaction.
However, using contactless Visa and Mastercard payment can amount to 0.5 to 1 per cent each time for debit cards and 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent for credit cards.
Using contactless Visa and Mastercard payment can amount to 0.5 to 1 per cent each time for debit cards and 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent for credit cards (stock image)
On a purchase of $100 the average cost added is 28c for EFTPOS, 52c for Mastercard network, 47c for Visa and a whopping $1.88 for digital payments provider Square.
While some larger businesses absorb these costs into the price of their goods and services many smaller ones lump customers with the bank fees.
Even some bigger businesses charge for using plastic.
While Coles and Woolworths supermarkets absorb fees into their prices, discount retailer Aldi charges a small standard fee on all card transactions.
