The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is banning merchant card payment surcharges starting 1 October 2026.

What Is Changing

• Card Surcharge Ban: Businesses can no longer add extra fees, often referred to as surcharges, when customers pay using EFTPOS, Mastercard, or Visa. This applies to both remote payments and card-present payments. 

• Network Alignment: American Express, JCB, and UnionPay are also removing surcharges from the same date.

Recommended Actions for Pharmacies 

This article covers all the different ways you may have configured card payment surcharges in Z Software. As every pharmacy is different, not all of the information listed below may be relevant for you. 

We recommend taking the time to read this article to understand if and what you may need to update to meet the RBA mandated banning of merchant card payment surcharges from 1 October 2026. 

Step 1: Remove any card payment surcharge structures you have set up in Z Office 

Z Software supports configurable discount and surcharge structures, and the first step covers where you'll find these in Z Office and how to remove them.

• In Z Office, from the menu, navigate to Other> Discount Structures> Manage Discount Structures.
• Identify and select the card payment surcharge structure e.g. EFTPOS Surcharge.
  • Once selected, click Delete Discount Structure.
  • The Remove Discount Structure prompt appears. Select Yes to remove the selected discount structure.

Step 2: Remove surcharges from payment methods 

You may have set up one or more surcharges for different payment methods e.g. EFTPOS + 1.5%. 
Payment methods are available for selection at the register and can vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. 

Follow the steps below to identify if you have surcharges set up and understand how to remove payment method surcharges at the Register.  

1. In Z Office, from the menu, navigate to POS > Manage Payment Methods > Manage Discount Structures.
2. Locate and select the payment method that has a surcharge, e.g. EFTPOS + 1.5%, or AMERICAN EXPRESS
3. Depending on your payment methods setup, you can:

Edit the payment method to remove the surcharge
Note: Use this method if you have one payment method per card that contains a surcharge 
e.g. AMERICAN EXPRESS with a surcharge value set to 2%

                OR

Delete the payment method with the surcharge so it is no longer available at the register 
Note: Use this method if you have multiple payment methods set up for the same card type 
e.g. EFTPOS and EFTPOS + 1.5%.

In the example screenshot above, you should edit the AMERICAN EXPRESS payment method to remove the 2.00% surcharge, and you should delete the EFTPOS + 1.5% payment method as you have a separate EFTPOS payment method (system managed) without a surcharge.

Step 3: Remove Surcharge Payment Method buttons from the Register

Z Register layouts are highly configurable, and this step covers how to identify and remove payment method buttons that may be available in your Register today. Depending on your setup, you may not need to perform this step. 

Using the example above, if your pharmacy had both an EFTPOS payment method and an EFTPOS +1.5% payment method, it is likely that you have a payment button named EFTPOS + 1.5% at the Register. The steps below explain how to remove the EFTPOS +1.5% button at the Register.  

Identify your Register Layout

Before we cover how to remove payment method buttons in your register, you need to know which Register Layout your pharmacy uses.

1. In Z Register, select the Settings button.
2. On the Till Settings screen, make a note of your Register Layout e.g. Register Layout E. 

Remove Payment Method buttons from your Register Layout

1. In Z Office, from the menu, navigate to POS > Manage Register Layouts.
2. From this screen, locate and select the layout your register uses e.g. Register Layout E. 
3. From the Edit Register Layout Details screen, select the Payment Menu tab.
4. Select the button you wish to remove e.g. EFTPOS + 1.5%.
5. Select the Remove Function button to continue, and then select Save.

Additional Information

• In future software releases, we will remove surcharging capabilities from some areas of Z Software in line with the RBA mandate.
• We recommend reviewing, updating and/or removing any signage you may have displayed in your pharmacy regarding surcharging prior to 1 October 2026.
• Your EFTPOS terminals may be configured to automatically include a surcharge. We recommend checking communications from your EFTPOS terminal provider for further information.
• Read more about the card payment surcharge ban from 1 October 2026 by visiting the RBA.