Regulation
+1
Dec 3, 2025
It’s clear the RBA knows exactly what it wants in a new A2A Payments Hub build. It has ruled out consortia or any alternative network designs, possibly leaving only a few players who can fit the bill.
Banks
NAB just became Australia’s biggest card issuer with the completion of the Citibank migration, and now it wants relief on the Reserve Bank’s proposed interchange cuts.
Digital & Online
Fintech
Merchant Service Fees
+2
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Westpac and Mastercard have collaborated to develop a new “first of its kind in Australian banking” feature, enabling Westpac customers to be able to view and cancel subscription payments directly through the Westpac app.
Retailers have called on the payments industry to speed up disconnections of illegal tobacco stores, as their revenues take a significant hit.
The Interchange Bench
On the Interchange Bench this week, Cuscal banks on acquiring, Revolut plans Australian credit rollout and the Yak Pay brand fades for a friend.
Cryptocurrency exchange company, Coinbase Australia, has appointed former CommSec Executive Manager Adam Judd as Chief Operating Officer ahead of big changes to the regulatory landscape.
+3
Nov 26, 2025
ANZ, like its peers and PSPs, has not revealed how many illicit tobacco merchants have been cut off, as AUSTRAC orders an audit of WorldRemit for child exploitation payments and targets others.
Employers have been warned to move early on payday super, with the ATO expecting 25 times the number of rejected contribution payments and payroll platforms pre-empting cash flow management issues.
Cash
While cashless is king during the sales events leading up to Christmas, more than a quarter of shoppers will use cash for some purchases, according to Monash Business School’s annual seasonal retail research report.
NAB CEO Andrew Irvine has revealed his “passion project” - a multi-deposit ATM - to assist cash distribution in remote communities, but it turns out he isn't the only one in the industry with a deep enthusiasm for the technology.
Bank-backed AP+ identity platform ConnectID scored a big win this week, with Snapchat adopting the technology for teen verification ahead of new social media rules kicking in next month, but Apple is now looming large as a competitor in the hotly contested space.
Cuscal celebrated its first birthday on the ASX yesterday and took out “Best IPO Listing” at the Adam Smith Awards Asia 2025 in Singapore.
Cuscal expects to finalise its acquisition of Indue next week, after clearing the last regulatory hurdle.
A2A
A summary of 68 submissions on the future of account-to-account payments shows a desire to move to real time payments but concerns remain around cost, take up of services, outages and account reach.
Live Payments has partnered with US fintech company Pipe, becoming its first Australian customer and helping to ramp up the tech’s expansion into Australia.
PayPal has announced the launch of its international money transfer service Xoom in Australia, promising easy and safer money transfers for PayPal customers in over 150 countries across more than 100 currencies.
On The Interchange Bench this week the loyalty sector finds investor appetite, as Norbr names Aussie payments influencers, bankers get quizzed on net-zero and Mastercard recruits for an RBA stoush.
Australia’s critical infrastructure regime covers 13 sectors including financial services, but is the regime in the sector as strong and resilient as Australians need their payments infrastructure to be?
Tyro’s outgoing CEO Jon Davey has handed some small business customers a fee cut from next week, lowering prices just in time for Christmas.
Nov 19, 2025
Online shoppers should stay alert to scams as Black Friday sales kick-off, with the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) claiming almost $40 million was lost to buying and selling scams over the past year.
More than half of Aussies under 45 are planning to use creative AI tools to assist with holiday shopping, according to new research from PayPal.
+4
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) should not be deterred from regulating the scheme fees charged by Visa and Mastercard because of the possibility of litigation, according to Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn.
With ANZ Worldline also taking action, questions remain over whether Westpac and NAB are making any credible efforts.
On The Interchange Bench this week, Fintech executives are readying for a big debate on regulation vs innovation at Women in Payments, while Payflo comes to town, Mastercard tickles Tyro, AP+ tightens titles and EFTEX takes on new talent.
Former Citi customers will be migrated to the new MyCard platform but more work remains on balances and with partners, as looming RBA interchange cuts threatens existing rewards.
Payday Super is likely to give NPP payments a much-needed volume boost in the new year, as transaction growth begins to move into new areas of the market including merchant disbursements, subscription services and cross border payments.
The future of finance isn’t cashless. It’s conscious built on invisible intelligence and visible trust.
In a moment of payments regulatory irony, a court settlement in the US may give merchants the right to surcharge costly rewards, premium and corporate credit cards, just as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) looks to ban the practice here.
Melbourne-based card payment fintech, Vault Payment Solutions has become a Mastercard Principal Issuer, promising both clients and cardholders faster innovation, greater agility, and enhanced security.
Westpac CEO, Anthony Miller told the Standing Committee on Economics yesterday that rewards are funded by interchange fees, despite the Reserve Bank ruling them an ineligible interchange cost.
Nov 12, 2025
New CommBank research suggests the majority of Australian corporates are unaware that the industry is planning to decommission the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) by “2030+”.
“Just like the banks, payment platform providers should already be alive to the risks of illicit tobacco profits and consider who they are providing services to and how much risk they carry,” AUSTRAC.
CommBank is sending its shonky award for “unfair fees” back to CHOICE, after revealing it has paused fees for “eligible concession customers” and had spent $25 million on goodwill payments.
Annual growth in credit cards has overtaken annual growth in debit cards for the first time since August 2023, ending two years of stronger debit card growth.
On The Interchange Bench this week, the BECS closure date gains a magic “plus”, as Cuscal execs take to the catwalk, the ABA redefines SMEs (again), Block takes a tumble and Amazon missteps on 11 November marketing.
