RMS adds bank payments as card surcharge ban looms

RMS has partnered with GoCardless to add direct bank payments to its accommodation platform as Australian businesses prepare for a ban on card surcharges.

Accommodation and hospitality operators have long used card surcharges to pass processing costs on to guests. That option is due to end if the Reserve Bank of Australia's proposed reforms take effect, prompting merchants to review payment methods with lower transaction costs than credit and debit cards.

Under the arrangement, RMS customers in Australia and New Zealand can offer direct bank payments, including direct debit and real-time payments through open banking, alongside card payments. The aim is to give accommodation providers another way to collect money as payment costs come under greater scrutiny.

Card processing fees for Australian merchants currently range from 1% to 3% per transaction. For a mid-sized hotel taking $500,000 a year in card payments, that would amount to $5,000 to $15,000 in annual costs if those charges can no longer be passed on to customers.

Margin pressure

The issue is particularly acute in hospitality, where operators often work on narrow margins and manage regular advance payments, deposits, and instalments. They also face the operational burden of failed transactions and chasing unpaid balances.

The integration includes payment recovery tools that automatically retry failed payments. According to GoCardless, its Success+ system recovers more than 70% of payments that would otherwise fail.

The pressure on cash flow extends beyond hospitality. Research from GoCardless found that 87% of Australian small and medium-sized businesses reported negative effects from avoiding conversations about money with customers, with 30% citing financial losses and 23% pointing to cash flow issues.

Against that backdrop, payment collection has become a more prominent part of business planning for accommodation providers, especially as they assess how to handle the removal of card surcharges without raising prices elsewhere or cutting margins further.

Adam Seskis, Chief Executive Officer at RMS, said: "Failed payments are a hidden drain on hospitality businesses - impacting both revenue and team productivity. As margins come under pressure from regulatory changes, operators need smarter, more cost-effective ways to collect payments without adding manual work. It's about helping operators modernise how they take and manage payments as the landscape shifts."

Payments shift

The Reserve Bank of Australia has flagged the elimination of card surcharges as part of a wider overhaul of the payments system. The central bank says consumers stand to save AUD $1.2 billion a year, but the change shifts the cost of card acceptance back to merchants.

That has prompted payment providers and software groups to position bank-to-bank payment methods as an alternative in sectors where recurring or scheduled charges are common. In accommodation, that includes longer-stay rental payments, booking instalments, and other pre-arranged charges.

Ian Boyd, General Manager, Australia and New Zealand at GoCardless, said: "The surcharge ban is going to fundamentally change how hospitality businesses think about payments."

"Operators who start diversifying their payment mix now will be better positioned when the changes take effect. Direct bank payments aren't just cheaper - they're also more reliable for recurring charges like longer-term rental payments and instalments," Boyd said

RMS serves more than 7,000 businesses across 70 countries, spanning hotels, serviced apartments, short-term rentals, and campgrounds. The tie-up gives GoCardless access to a hospitality customer base that is paying closer attention to the cost of accepting payments as regulations change.

For operators, the immediate question is whether lower-cost bank payments can offset some of the expense previously covered by surcharges. For software and payment firms, the opportunity lies in embedding those options directly into booking and property management systems, where payment decisions are made at the point of sale and during the guest's stay.

The integration is now live for RMS customers in Australia and New Zealand.