Some cafes in Australia have raised coffee prices by about 10% following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) ban on card surcharges. According to Small Flat White, an online platform tracking over 1,500 cafes, around 17% of these businesses increased their flat white prices post-ban implementation. Typically, the price increase is about 50 cents per coffee, significantly higher than the previous typical surcharge range of 0.5 to 1.5%. This adjustment comes as some business owners face thin profit margins and struggle with absorbing additional costs.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) recent ban on card transaction surcharges has led some cafes and restaurants to increase coffee prices. According to Small Flat White, an online platform tracking over 1,500 cafes, about 17% have raised the price of a flat white by nearly 10%, compared to before the October 1st ban took effect. This contrasts with the typical consumer surcharge of just 0.5 to 1.5% on card transactions.
Avtar Singh, owner of a Thai restaurant in Hobart, noted that while his business is currently absorbing these costs, he anticipates needing to raise prices eventually due to the economic pressure. Former RBA official Luci Ellis predicts the ban will have minimal impact on inflation but acknowledges it could exacerbate cost-of-living pressures during a high-inflation period, suggesting the timing of the ban was poorly chosen.
Written for “RBA Card Surcharge Ban Impact” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 61920: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-07
In short:
Cafes and restaurants have begun lifting prices in response to the RBA's surcharge ban.
asserted
Cafes → begin → ban
The ban was intended to lower prices, but the price hikes appear to be an unintended consequence.
asserted
hikes → intend → prices
Former RBA official Luci Ellis says the ban is unlikely to have a significant impact on inflation.
asserted
ban → say → inflation
A ban on card surcharges has resulted in some cafe owners raising the price of their coffee.
asserted
owners → result → coffee
About 17 per cent of cafes are now charging more for a flat white, compared with prices prior to October 1, when the Reserve Bank's ban took effect.
asserted
ban → charge → effect
That is according to Small Flat White, an online platform that tracks coffee prices across more than 1,500 cafes.
uncertain
that → accord → cafes
Typically, the increase was 50 cents, or almost 10 per cent of the coffee's price, which is much higher than the typical 0.5 to 1.5 per cent surcharge consumers used to pay on their credit or debit card transactions.
asserted
consumers → use → transactions
Not every hospitality business has raised its prices in the immediate aftermath of the ban.
asserted
business → raise → ban
Avtar Singh, owner of a Thai restaurant in Hobart, said he was currently absorbing the cost of the surcharges but eventually would have to raise prices.
asserted
he → say → prices
"The government needs to understand small businesses are already at a very thin margin," he told the ABC.
asserted
he → need → ABC
"If you squeeze it any further, it'll come to a point where doing business is very, very difficult.
asserted
doing → squeeze → business
"
RBA kicks 'own goal'
asserted
RBA → kick → goal
Most cafes or restaurants have raised prices in some way, either by raising menu prices or increasing weekend or public holiday surcharges, said Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association.
asserted
Lambert → raise → Association
"Increasing prices can always affect demand, so that certainly is an unintended consequence that the RBA could not have predicted, because they believed that prices would only go up 0.1 per cent," he said.
uncertain
he → increase → that
Mr Lambert said some businesses had started taking cash-only payments or accepting bank transfers.
asserted
businesses → say → transfers
"Ultimately, we think that the RBA kicked an own goal in this,"he added.
"They should have known better that inflation was going to remain pesky and that this ban would come online during a cost of living crisis and potentially should have delayed the ban during this high inflationary and high interest environment."
asserted
ban → think → environment
The RBA has said the previous system was no longer working as intended, with surcharges increasingly difficult for consumers to avoid.
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consumers → say → ?
The central bank has also said only about 16 per cent of businesses were surcharging and the ban was designed to reduce card acceptance costs, particularly for small businesses.
asserted
ban → say → businesses
Reforms unlikely to affect interest rates
If the surcharge ban results in higher inflation, that effect would likely be temporary and have no effect on interest rates, according to Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis.
"
uncertain
effect → affect → Ellis
Previously surcharges were imposed to reflect the cost of accepting certain types of payment; that's now been bundled into the price, so some business have increased their prices, but that's a one-off, not inherently inflationary," she said.
asserted
she → impose → prices
"Most of the reports we've seen of prices increasing … more than what the surcharge had been were in hospitality.
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surcharge → see → hospitality
"There are plenty of other inflationary forces going round, including the pass-through of high energy costs onto other prices that the Reserve Bank's going to be much more focused on."
asserted
Bank → be → that
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver agreed.
"The overall macroeconomic impact from higher prices flowing from the ban on surcharges may not be that significant," he said.
uncertain
he → agree → surcharges
Mr Oliver said many large businesses were already not charging surcharges.
asserted
businesses → say → surcharges
"It's really just an issue for small businesses, but there still may be some upwards boost to inflation, albeit minor," he said.
uncertain
he → say → inflation
"In theory, the RBA may just look through it as it's a one-off impact, but it may be hard to disentangle a general rise in prices from the impact of the surcharge versus other factors."
uncertain
it → look → factors
The Reserve Bank declined to comment.
asserted
Bank → decline → ?
The Aporia
