Trek Guide
After the RBA's 0.3% interchange cap, banks cut points, raised fees and trimmed card travel insurance. A dated tracker of every change.
By Bishnu Adhikari · Oct 9, 2026
On 1 October 2026 the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the most a bank can collect in interchange on a consumer credit card from 0.8% to 0.3% of each purchase, and the banks have answered by cutting points, raising fees and trimming the travel insurance that…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Interchange is the fee a shop's bank pays your bank every time you tap a card, and on Australian consumer credit cards the ceiling on it fell from 0.8% to 0.3% of the purchase on 1 October 2026. The RBA's Payments System Board set that level after its Issuer…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Every row below comes from the bank's own change notice or product page, read between 7 and 9 October 2026. We list what changed and when. We do not rank the cards or tell you which to hold; that depends on how you spend, and in Australia it is personal…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
On $3,000 of everyday domestic spending in one statement, the three cards that published old and new rates all earn 25% fewer points. That is our arithmetic from each bank's published before-and-after rates, for spend inside the first earn tier, before any…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The cap does not touch American Express because Amex has no interchange fee to cap. Visa and Mastercard are four-party networks: the shop's bank and your bank are different companies, and interchange is the payment between them. Amex mostly issues its own…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
If you rely on a card's free travel insurance, the changes to that cover are the part that can cost you real money abroad. A quarter fewer points is a small loss next to a cancellation claim that is no longer covered or a hospital stay abroad that falls…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Read the notice your bank emailed you, then check three things: your insurance, your fees abroad, and any points you are holding. Insurance. If you hold a Westpac Altitude card, activate the cover before departure or you have none. If your trip runs longer…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The reform is doing exactly what the RBA said it would: merchants pay less, and the cost of rewards moves onto cardholders through fewer points, higher fees and thinner insurance. For most people the points change is a quarter off the everyday rate, which is…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
On 1 October 2026. The cap on consumer credit card interchange fell from 0.8% to 0.3% of the transaction value, under the RBA's Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging. The cap on foreign-issued cards used in Australia starts on 1 April 2027. No…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The checkout side of the same reform. What Australian cards charge you abroad. What card cover usually leaves out. How bank points become airline miles. Sources: Reserve Bank of Australia, Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
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