New fees, higher costs: Card surcharges are ending – how will it affect the way you pay?

UK · 2026-09-29

1. Step 1 · The triggerAustralia bans card surcharges, so merchants must absorb card processing costs instead of passing them to customers.
2. Step 2 · Knock-onMerchants raise headline prices to recover absorbed card costs, making payment costs less transparent for consumers.
3. Step 3 · Reaches youUK SMEs watching international payment trends see a precedent for regulatory-driven cost absorption, prompting review of their own pricing and payment mix.

The trigger is reported by the source below. The steps that follow are Branch²’s traced reasoning — how the shock could reach a business like yours, not a prediction.

Source: theguardian.com

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