Australia’s pesky fee for debit card purchases may be about to disappear. What happens next?

Who wins and who loses if the Albanese government’s proposed ban on debit card transaction fees is rolled out? Photograph: SolStock/Getty Images

It might be chump change when it comes to buying a coffee, but the surcharge on debit purchases adds up to billions of dollars a year – and it could be about to disappear.

Australia’s payments sector could be overhauled amid a government pledge to reform a system of fee charges that is deeply unpopular with consumers already grappling with punishing living costs.