Australian consumers are returning to cash payments off the back of the October 1, 2026 card surcharge ban.
RMIT Associate Professor of Marketing Marian Makkar said the changes were reshaping how consumers thought about money and spending.
“With surcharges no longer visible on receipts and prices rising across retailers to absorb payment processing costs, consumers are reverting to cash as their preferred payment method,” Dr Makkar said.
“The psychological shift is significant: when fees were itemised, consumers saw the cost of convenience when spending with a card.
“Now buried in advertised prices, many are switching to cash or PayID to regain visibility and control over their actual spending.”
Dr Makkar said the changes arrived at a time when summer sales traditionally encouraged impulse buying through the convenience of card payments.
The surcharge ban had accidentally recreated “a slower, more mindful consumer behaviour unseen in years”.
“The transparency loss paradoxically creates spending awareness – consumers counting notes are reconsidering purchases and becoming more selective, despite attractive promotions,” she said.
“The result is a generation rediscovering the discipline of cash spending at precisely the moment retailers hoped to capitalise on summer enthusiasm.”
