Online property management platforms in Australia are introducing new charges and subscription models to circumvent recent bans on credit card surcharges for rent payments. This has raised concerns among tenants and consumer advocates in several states, particularly Victoria, where rental payment fees are strictly prohibited.
The Reserve Bank of Australia implemented a nationwide ban on credit card surcharges starting October 1, aiming to eliminate additional costs imposed on consumers for card payments. Despite the ban, platforms commonly used for rent collections have shifted toward alternative fee structures to cover processing expenses.
OurProperty, a rent-tech platform operating across Australia, previously passed on a 1.95% surcharge to tenants paying rent by card. Following the ban, OurProperty announced a new approach routing payments through Pay4it, a platform founded recently by OurProperty’s founder, Russell Burstow. Pay4it charges a similar 1.95% "service fee," which is again passed to tenants. Burstow emphasized that without passing these costs on, property managers or landlords would face higher expenses that could ultimately increase rent.
In Victoria, where legislation prohibits rental providers and real estate agents from charging fees related to rent payments or tenancy applications, OurProperty plans to introduce a “membership” system. From mid-to-late October, tenants who opt for a “platinum” membership will pay 1.95% of their monthly rent to avoid the card payment service fee, while a default “silver” membership covers costs through the real estate agencies for direct debit or automated bank transfers. Curtis Thomson, CEO of OurProperty, said that memberships come with additional app features and do not simply replace old card surcharges.
Tenants have expressed dissatisfaction with the new memberships, describing them as inconvenient and opaque. Hazel Kearns-Rees, a Melbourne resident using OurProperty, criticized the framing of cost recovery as memberships and said the process makes fee-free payments deliberately difficult, especially concerning given the current cost-of-living pressures.
Other rental platforms have responded differently. Ailo has replaced card surcharges with paid memberships but maintained that overall fees remain the same or lower, and fee-free options were unchanged. Meanwhile, DEFT, the largest rent payment platform, has blocked card payments entirely, citing that card payments only make up 2% of its monthly 1.2 million transactions. Alternative payment methods such as BPAY, direct debit, and PayID remain available.
Experts caution that simply rebranding surcharges as memberships may conflict with the intent of surcharge bans. Fengfei Li, a finance lecturer at Deakin University, explained that regulators will assess whether such fees are genuinely optional, tied to additional services, and justified by their cost.
Across Australia, all states mandate that tenants must be offered at least one fee-free rent payment method, with some jurisdictions banning all related fees. In New South Wales, the office of Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong encouraged tenants to report any misleading charges or inflated fees related to rent payments.
Cases of potential violations have already surfaced. In Melbourne’s Parkville suburb, tenants in a build-to-rent property managed by UKO reported being charged a 1.99% “service fee” on rent payments through a new portal by property management software company Yardi. The tenants claimed they were not adequately informed about the fee. After raising concerns with Consumer Affairs Victoria and management, the fee was removed as of September 30.
A spokesperson for Consumer Affairs Victoria affirmed the regulator’s commitment to investigating reports of misconduct and taking appropriate action when necessary.
As rent payment processes evolve amid regulatory changes, tenants are urged to carefully review any new fees and seek advice or assistance from consumer protection agencies to ensure compliance with state laws and to avoid paying unlawful charges.