Credit Card Payment Changes

Recent changes to Australian payment regulations mean that from 1 October 2026, payment merchants will no longer be able to charge credit card surcharges directly to the person making the payment. 

As a result, if credit card payments remain available, any credit card processing costs would need to be paid by the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate, meaning they would be funded by all owners through the scheme's budget. 

At Bright & Duggan Group, we believe decisions that impact your community's finances should be made by your community. Rather than making this decision on behalf of all buildings, each committee has been given the opportunity to decide whether credit card payments should remain available for owners within their scheme in readiness for the change on 1 October. 

Why is this changing? 

Until now, owners who chose to pay levies by credit card paid the associated surcharge themselves. 

From 1 October 2026, those charges can no longer be passed on to the individual payer. Instead, the cost would be borne by the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate and shared across the scheme. 

What does this mean for your building? 

Because levy payments are collected on behalf of each scheme and deposited into its bank account, the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate is considered the merchant in these cases and under the new requirements, any credit card processing costs must therefore be paid by the scheme. As these costs have not been planned for or included in current budgets, to ensure transparency and fairness Bright & Duggan Group elected to remove credit card payments by default from 1 October 2026 and gave all committees the opportunity to consider whether its scheme should continue offering credit card payments with these costs in mind.  

If your scheme elected to continue accepting Credit Card Payments 

• Owners can continue paying levies by credit card. 
• Credit card processing fees will be charged to the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate. 
• Those costs will ultimately be shared across the scheme's owners. 

If your scheme elected to no longer accept credit card payments 

• Credit card payments will remain unavailable. 
• Alternative payment methods such as BPAY, bank account direct debit and other available channels will remain unchanged and will be the way in which levies can continue to be paid. 
• No credit card processing fees will be charged to the scheme. 

What happens next?   

Credit card payments will remain available after 1 October 2026. Minutes of the meeting will be available within the scheme's records for all lot owners to review, and a standard motion will be added to general meetings to ensure that the decision remains relevant for the scheme.  

If the committee has voted to continue accepting credit cards: 

• Credit card payments will remain available after 1 October 2026 
• Processing costs will be paid from scheme funds. 
• Card payment options will continue to appear on levy notices. 

If the committee votes not to continue accepting Credit Cards 

• Credit card payment options will be removed from levy notices. 
• Owners will need to use an alternative payment method. 
• No credit card processing costs will be charged to the scheme. 

If no decision is recorded 

• Credit card payments will be removed from 1 October 2026. 

What does this mean for lot owners? 

For most owners, there will be little or no change. 

If you currently pay your levies using BPAY, direct debit from a bank account, or another non-card payment method, your payment arrangements will remain unchanged. 

Owners who currently pay by credit card should watch for further communications following their committee's decision and be prepared to update their payment method if required.  

Questions?  

If you have any questions about the upcoming vote or the payment options available for your scheme, please contact your Strata Manager.  

Read the frequently asked questions for more information about the payment changes, committee decision and available payment options. 

We are committed to making this transition as simple as possible while ensuring each community can make the decision that is right for its owners.