Adelaide hospitality businesses flag cash-only switch to combat card surcharge ban
Hospitality operators have flagged a shift to cash-only trading in response to the federal government’s looming ban on card surcharges, warning costs will simply land elsewhere.
Hospitality operators have flagged moving their businesses to a cash-only model to combat the axing of card surcharges.
Publican Simone Douglas said the removal of consumer fees on electronic transactions, to be introduced on October 1, has forced her to seriously consider the drastic shift as an alternative to raising menu prices.
The RBA announced the move, designed to save Australians $1.6bn each year, back in April.
But Ms Douglas and local food truck operators are among business owners who say they cannot absorb thousands of dollars in extra costs in today’s tough economic environment.
“That $1.6 billion doesn’t evaporate. It lands in prices, or it lands on margin, and hospitality margins don’t have room for it,” she said.
The owner of The Duke of Brunswick Hotel, in the CBD, and The Port Admiral Hotel, in Port Adelaide, Ms Douglas said she is looking at installing ATMs in her venues as part of the transition.
“Either way the customer ends up paying. Through a slightly higher price, or through the inconvenience of carrying cash,” she said.
Rik Carr, who runs popular Adelaide food truck Rik’s Grill, said operators would struggle to cover the additional surcharges without moving to a cash-only or cash-discount model.
He said food truck festival organisers were looking at hiring ATMs for their events to allow more cash payments.
“It’s a big issue for food trucks. Cost of goods are up already without the extra fees,” he said.
Italian dessert bar Zeppole & Co in Findon moved over to a cash-only system in 2024.
A spokesman for the Grange Rd shop said the switch has been a winner with their customers and saved the business about $15,000 a year.
“It’s made a big difference for us,” he said.
“Cash is king. At first a lot of people were bagging it, saying we were doing it for dodgy reasons but now people have adjusted. Everyone has gotten used to it.”
The spokesman said it allowed them to keep the price of their desserts down.
It comes as the team behind The Big Rocking Horse, in Gumeracha, implored people to use cash when visiting the tourist icon.
“Most people will tell us to increase our prices to accommodate the surcharge, we pride ourselves on being the most budget friendly place to visit and made a promise not to increase prices,” they said social media this week.
“The Government think they are helping consumers by removing the surcharge, but in reality, most businesses will increase their prices to accommodate the cost, I guarantee the increase will be more than the surcharge amount.”
Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive Anna Moeller said the removal of the surcharges will “harm both patrons and businesses right in the middle of a cost of living and cost of operating crisis”.
She expected some venues will adapt their business model in response to the RBA’s decision, including offering cash price discounts.
“The only winners in this are foreign owned providers such as Visa, MasterCard and the big banks,” she said. “People using their own money will still be subsidising the cost of those who borrow money.”
Jonathan Jackson, 31st August 2026
