Overseas trips and hotel stays funded through credit reward schemes could be in trouble as Australia’s central bank cuts fees on card transactions.

The Reserve Bank has revamped card usage by banning surcharge payments and cutting interchange fees, in a move experts said has levelled the playing field for the average punter.

But banks have warned the one in two Australians that have a credit card might see their perks start to dry up.

A cap on interchange fees – paid by a business to a customer’s card issuer when a transaction occurs – will save companies about $910 million annually, according to the RBA.

But the fees were also helping to fund rewards schemes, which could be chopped as a result.

The big losers could be ”card churners” – those who systematically game the credit industry by opening and closing cards to harvest sign-up bonuses, travel points and cash-back rewards.

With time, effort and some meticulous money management, punters can spin minimal spending into major perks.

Point Hacks, a website dedicated to educating the public about making the most of reward offers, thinks average earn rates and other benefits like free travel insurance and lounge passes could be reduced due to the changes.

“The banks will have to tighten the reins – somehow we don’t believe they will simply absorb the costs,” editor-in-chief Brandon Loo said.

The changes have been welcomed by GoCardless, a payment processing system specialising in bank-to-bank payments allowing card fees to be skipped altogether.

That banks cannot keep funding rewards via merchant fees, typically hitting smaller businesses harder, is not a bad thing, according to Ian Boyd, the ANZ general manager of GoCardless.

“It levels the playing field between big and small businesses … with a higher cap, you have the bigger end of town able to negotiate with international schemes to get to get more capable rates,” Mr Boyd said.

“That left small businesses carrying the can for the revenue banks could use to subsidise the reward points, so there’s real democratisation aspects to this we genuinely think are good for the Australian payments infrastructure.”

There are around 13 million credit card accounts in Australia, with up to two-thirds enrolled in rewards programs.

While some, including Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said scrapping surcharges was a cost-of-living win, many fear businesses will simply raise item prices, reducing benefits to consumers.

Others, including cash supporter Jason Bryce, say people paying with physical currency will bear the brunt of the tweaks.

”Card surcharging is an Australian innovation in regulation to ensure users pay for the costs of their card payments, including all the benefits they receive,” Mr Bryce said.