Overview
- The Australian Banking Association lodged a 70-page submission supporting a ban on debit and credit card surcharges.
- The submission argues the proposed cut to the domestic credit interchange cap from 0.8% to 0.3% lacks evidence and would harm households.
- Banks caution issuers could respond by reducing interest-free days and card rewards to offset lost interchange revenue.
- The ABA says lower caps risk shifting a larger share of wallet fees offshore, citing Apple Pay, and could disadvantage local providers.
- The RBA estimates eliminating surcharges could save consumers about A$1.2 billion a year, with potential price pass-through adding 0.1 percentage point to inflation.