Brad Kelly | PayDay News

Read commentary from Payments Expert, Brad Kelly

Merchant Service Fees

Nov 12, 2025

Velocity flies into the interchange and surcharge storm

While all eyes are on Qantas, Virgin Australia has fired a distress flare on the potential impact of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging – saying it could impact both revenue and Velocity cards.

LCR

Nov 5, 2025

Magic! Your debit fees just transformed into higher credit

Turning debit into higher credit fees has always been the Holy Grail to boost issuer revenue. Visa may have finally found it, but merchants will pay handsomely for the “privilege”.

Merchant Service Fees

Nov 5, 2025

Small business “subdued” as RBA mulls decision on card fees and surcharging

Two new reports have articulated stresses facing the nation’s small businesses, as the Reserve Bank of Australia considers the future of surcharging and merchant fees which could deal another blow to the sector.

Merchant Service Fees

Oct 8, 2025

Rewards market can thrive without interchange – and already does

The average Aussie spends about $20,000 a year on their credit card, but despite the hype you don’t need to spend a cent on it to get rewards.

Oct 1, 2025

Keeping the bastards honest - PayDay News turns one

"As we move into our second year at Payday News, I like to think of our role being like that of Senator Don Chipp who in 1980 said famously that his job was “To keep the bastards honest”. Clearly, we have our work cut out for us."

Regulation

Jul 23, 2025

Rewards cards in the firing line. But is it all doom and gloom?

The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced an intention to reduce credit interchange from a cap of 0.80% to 0.30%. The move has been welcomed by merchants across the nation who have for decades unwittingly subsidised rewards programs for the banks.

Merchant Service Fees

Jun 18, 2025

Premium credit card chats on internet forums. Where facts go to die.

If you spend any time on internet forums talking about the value of premium credit cards, you will stumble across any number of self-styled experts who willingly dish out advice but are just cosplaying.

A2A

Feb 17, 2025

What happened to my precious data?

Most of you will know that I take the monthly Reserve Bank Australia payment data very seriously.

Cards

Jan 14, 2025

Christmas expires in 3 years

Gift cards are big business, but the money is made is when you don’t use them.

Nov 7, 2024

A brief history of heavy lifting in Aussie Payments

Some of the challenges we face in payments today pale into insignificance when we look at the history of our industry in Australia.