Although the three-party schemes are not regulated in this way, they have voluntarily accepted the surcharging standard and have been subject to some of the same competitive pressures. As a result, merchant service fees for the three-party schemes have fallen by a similar amount. Since the adoption of the reforms, the prevalence of surcharging has significantly increased.
According to data from East & Partners, around one-third of Australian merchants now impose a surcharge on at least one of the credit cards they accept. The figure is higher for the largest merchants1, where the proportion surcharging is slightly over half.