The Australian interchange standards and 2026 reforms governing card-scheme benchmarks and transaction-level caps.

The RBA framework addresses the fees paid between participants in card transactions acquired in Australia. The 2026 decisions lower the domestic consumer-credit cap to 0.3%, retain a separate 0.8% commercial-credit cap, and set domestic debit and prepaid caps at 8 cents or 0.16%. They also introduce a 1% cap for foreign-issued cards and amend net-compensation arrangements. These decisions form a staged reform programme, so the relevant commencement provisions matter when interpreting the applicable requirements.

The main requirements are to apply card-interchange benchmarks, caps, transparency and scheme compliance obligations.

Payment pricing involves several distinct charges. Interchange is exchanged between issuing and acquiring sides, while a merchant's acceptance charge can also include scheme, processing and acquiring-service components. A cap on one component does not automatically cap the total price paid by the merchant or make all payment methods equally priced.

The transaction and participant categories determine the relevance of a pricing rule. Consumer and commercial products, debit and credit, domestic and cross-border transactions, and different issuer or scheme arrangements can receive different treatment. The unit of calculation also matters: a transaction-level limit and a weighted-average benchmark constrain prices in different ways.

The framework's practical effect must therefore be assessed against the actual fee component, card category and service arrangement. Transparency and routing or acceptance rules can influence competition alongside numerical limits. Published reforms can also use staged commencement dates, so an announced future cap should be distinguished from the requirement applying to a transaction today.