EFTPOS surcharges Australia: Mum’s fury as she’s slugged with ‘ridiculous’ surcharge just for paying with her card

  • Woman charges 10 percent per restaurant

An Australian mother has been hit with a ‘ridiculous’ surcharge – 10% of her bill, or $7.80 – just to use her Eftpos card at a popular waterfront restaurant.

Alera scanned a QR code on the table to order and pay for her birthday lunch at the Surfers Pavilion on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

“I just got charged $7.80 for using Eftpos,” she fumed in a TikTok video.

“Seriously, that’s definitely way too much!”

Alera paid the “exorbitant” fee without realizing it had been applied

The Queensland woman said she checked the invoice and thought it was a mistake, but was told it was a “processing fee” for the simple act of paying electronically.

“I thought it was a mistake and that they would look and give us a refund or a free drink, but the waiter said, ‘Oh no, that’s our Eftpos fee’,” she said Yahoo Finance.

“If I had just paid at the bar I probably wouldn’t have thought about it and would have just tapped away, but I got the receipt emailed and could see it.”

Such surcharges are likely to become more common in the future as Reserve Bank figures show the use of cash is declining.

The use of cash is rapidly declining in Australia in favor of card and mobile phone payments

The use of cash is rapidly declining in Australia in favor of card and mobile phone payments

Alera used a QR code on the table to order and pay for her birthday lunch at Surfers Pavilion on the Gold Coast on Wednesday, unaware she was being hit with a $7.80 surcharge

Alera used a QR code on the table to order and pay for her birthday lunch at Surfers Pavilion on the Gold Coast on Wednesday, unaware she was being hit with a $7.80 surcharge

Cash is so unpopular that Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock warned last December that customers could struggle to find an ATM in the future.

The RBA also found that mobile technology has accelerated the transition to cashless transactions, especially for purchases under $50.

Daily Mail Australia approached Surfers Pavilion for comment.