Learn how to set up Smokeball Payments to pass on credit card processing fees to your clients when they pay an invoice or make a trust deposit.
Card surcharging will be disabled from 1 October 2026
Starting 1 October 2026, The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will ban business surcharges on debit, prepaid, and credit card payments across the eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa networks.Â
With the removal of card surcharging, your firm will no longer be able to pass on merchant fees at the point of transaction. Many firms are instead moving to an all-inclusive pricing model, where card acceptance costs are treated as a cost of doing business and covered by standard professional or sundry fees.Â
Surcharging functionality for all Smokeball Payments accounts will be disabled after business hours on 30 September 2026. From then on, card surcharge amounts will be reflected in your Smokeball Payments invoice.
To enable surcharging:
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Select the Settings (gear) icon on the bottom-left corner of the Smokeball Web App and open Firm Settings.
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Select Payment Provider from the left menu and navigate to the Card Surcharging section.
- Choose the toggles that are relevant for your firm:
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Request processing fee from client for invoice payments means the Smokeball Payments surcharge will be displayed and added to the total amount of a card payment on an invoice right before processing.
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Request processing fee from client for deposits and retainers means the Smokeball Payments surcharge will be displayed and added to the total amount of the trust deposit right before processing.
- Request processing fee from client for payment plans means the Smokeball Payments surcharge will be applied to each instalment on new and active payment plans you may have with your clients. As payment plan instalments are automatically deducted from the client's nominated credit card, you must ensure you have notified your clients of the surcharge before turning this on.
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