Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) Surges on RBA Card Reforms Despite Being Down 20% This Year- Is Now the Time to Buy?

Tyro Payments (ASX: TYR) rose over 5% to A$0.79 today after the Reserve Bank of Australia published its final Conclusions Paper on card payment reform, confirming a ban on card surcharges from October 1, 2026, alongside lower interchange fee caps for merchants. The reaction was telling. When the RBA first floated these same reforms back in July 2025, Tyro shares fell as much as 15% in a single session. Today’s bounce signals that the final ruling is far less damaging than investors initially feared, and may actually create a competitive tailwind for the company. The real question is whether Tyro, still sitting 20% below its 2026 high, is a genuine buying opportunity, or whether a bigger regulatory risk still lies around the corner.

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Why the July Sell-Off Missed the Point

When the RBA’s preliminary proposals landed in July 2025, the market hit the panic button. The concern was simple: if merchants can no longer charge customers a surcharge to recover card processing costs, payment companies like Tyro would feel the revenue squeeze. But the actual numbers tell a reassuring story.
Only around 30% of Tyro’s approximately 76,000 merchants apply surcharges at all. Even among those that do, the company’s zero-cost EFTPOS surcharging product accounts for just 2% of total transaction value. In other words, the financial exposure was always far smaller than the sell-off implied. We believe the July reaction significantly mispriced this risk. Today’s gain is not hype but a correction of that overreaction, one the market took eight months to process.

Mandatory Transparency Could Drive Merchant Switching to Tyro

The most underappreciated element of Tuesday’s package may be the pricing transparency requirements. New rules will force big payment processors to reveal full fees from April 2027, moves that could make it easier for merchants to compare providers and switch to Tyro. TipRanks
This is where Tyro’s structural position becomes interesting. The company already operates on transparent, cost-plus pricing models that are aligned with the direction the RBA is taking the industry. When larger competitors are required to disclose previously opaque bundled fees for the first time, many merchants will likely start comparing options more aggressively. The broader reforms are expected to save Australian consumers A$1.6 billion per year and deliver around A$910 million in annual savings for businesses through lower interchange fees. PEDESTRIAN.TV That means small business owners will be actively reassessing payment costs, which is precisely the conversation Tyro is positioned to win.

With 76,000 merchants across hospitality, retail, and healthcare already on its platform, Tyro has both the scale and the pricing model to capture switching activity from incumbent providers. This suggests the reforms could be a net positive for merchant acquisition over the next 12 to 18 months.

The Investor’s Takeaway

The bull case for Tyro is structural. Its transparent pricing model is already aligned with the new regulatory framework, and the reforms should accelerate merchant switching toward lower-cost providers. At A$0.79 and still 20% below its 2026 peak, the valuation looks arguably attractive relative to the improved outlook. For patient investors with a 12 to 24-month horizon, this appears to be a compelling entry point.