Good news if you tend to make a lot of purchases with large companies by credit card – you should notice that from Thursday you’re not being charged such hefty fees for using this payment method.

This is a result of legislation passed by the Turnbull government in February which bans large businesses from charging excessive credit card fees – otherwise they’ll be hit with big penalties. Smaller companies have been given an additional 12 months to comply with the new rules.

Frequent flyers will be among the many consumers to benefit from the changes, with both Qantas and Virgin altering the way they charge.

Under the old rates published by Qantas you’d have paid $7 to book a $100 domestic fare on your card. From 1 September, the surcharge will be just 1.3% or $1.30 for the same fare.

“Consumers are entitled to a fair deal. That’s why the Turnbull government took action to ensure customers aren’t charged more than they should be,” said Treasurer Scott Morrison in a statement on Sunday.

Tickets for sporting events and concerts, which have traditionally had notoriously high surcharge fees, will also be subject to the ban if you book with a major ticketing firm.

The guys responsible for enforcing the new measures are the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Australia’s credit card debt that is subject to interest charges has dropped by 11% in the last four years, although it’s still at $33 billion. This has saved customers over $700 million in interest payments. The nation’s overall credit debt, however, is at a record high of $52.2 billion. We certainly can’t put all of that down to credit card surcharges.