‘Round-up’ pricing in items such as coffee suggests increases are exceeding the typical 1.5% surcharge fee

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Businesses are using the recent ban on credit card surcharges as “cover” to pass along much larger price increases to customers, experts say, as cafes and restaurants struggle to cope with climbing costs and rising interest rates.

Credit card surcharges, typically worth about 1.5% of the transaction, were banned from 1 October, as part of a Reserve Bank-led reform aimed at improving transparency for customers and, ultimately, lowering bank fees.