WEX notes the Reserve Bank of Australia’s conclusions on the Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, announced on 31 March 2026.
These reforms represent a significant evolution in the Australian payments landscape and are designed to improve transparency, simplify payment experiences, and strengthen competition and efficiency across the payments ecosystem.
The key changes include the removal of card surcharges on debit, prepaid, and credit cards across designated networks such as Visa and Mastercard, paired with adjusted commercial interchange fee caps and enhanced fee transparency requirements for payment service providers. The majority of these reforms will come into effect from 1 October 2026, with additional measures relating to foreign card interchange caps and further transparency requirements commencing 1 April 2027.
For WEX customers across the fleet and corporate mobility sectors, we are navigating this transition alongside you.
The removal of standard network surcharging will alter how card processing costs are structured, managed, and absorbed by commercial operations across Australia. In commercial payment environments involving fleet operators, corporate accounts, and card-accepting merchant partner networks, these shifting dynamics present a new operational baseline.
At WEX, the priority is ensuring our clients experience a seamless transition while maintaining business-as-usual continuity. While our core proprietary closed-loop products – including Motorpass –are not directly within the immediate scope of these network-specific changes, we recognize that modifications to open-loop settlement streams naturally introduce a new dynamic to the broader payments landscape.
In direct alignment with the new Standard, surcharges on accounts settled via Visa and Mastercard will stop on 1 October 2026. All account services, core operations, and existing payment options will continue business as usual, ensuring your day-to-day operations remain entirely unaffected.
Helping businesses navigate this transition with complete confidence.
Over the coming months, WEX will continue to monitor the ongoing developments and downstream market impacts of this transition. Our goal is to ensure that our payment options continue to support secure, scalable, and highly efficient modern B2B payments, with the operational needs of our customers firmly at the center.
Customers can expect clear communication from WEX as implementation milestones approach. We remain dedicated to delivering robust, compliant, and commercially viable fleet solutions that empower businesses to operate with maximum efficiency in an evolving regulatory market.
Disclaimer: The information in this release is for educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. The RBA’s Conclusions Paper is publicly available and provides further specifics on the reforms. For legal or tax advice relative to your specific corporate operations, please consult legal counsel, tax, or investment advisers.
