George Lekakis

Read stories from Senior Banking and Financial Services Correspondent, George Lekakis

Merchant Service Fees

Sep 9, 2025

Payments reforms put global providers in the frame

After years of deliberation and delay, federal parliament has finally passed changes to the Payments System Regulation Act. While the reforms give the Treasurer new special powers to designate payments systems in the ‘national interest’ they are unlikely to advance the RBA’s mandate to support competition. Currently only eftpos, NPP, Visa and MasterCard are designated payment systems.

Fintech

Sep 9, 2025

RBA asked to explain soaring merchant costs as it finalises reforms

Small business groups want the Reserve Bank to shed light on why the average fee to process an eftpos transaction is rising as wholesale costs decline and more banks make least cost routing available to merchants. They say it’s pointing to something profoundly dysfunctional in the Australian payments system.

Merchant Service Fees

Sep 2, 2025

How reliable are the RBA’s official numbers on debit routing?

Banks and other acquirers enjoyed lower wholesale costs for processing eftpos transactions last year, but the average service fees paid by merchants still soared by 34 per cent. The blowout in merchant costs comes as the RBA released fresh data that least cost routing had been “enabled” for 80 per cent of Australian merchants at the end of June.

Banks

Sep 2, 2025

JP Morgan looks to ruffle local major banks in corporate payments

The country’s big four banks face a serious challenge from JP Morgan in the institutional payments market.

Fintech

Aug 26, 2025

Adyen halves merchant costs with AI-enabled dynamic routing

Adyen has achieved a breakthrough in lowering the payments costs borne by merchants in Australia and the US, using an AI-driven dynamic routing platform. The service has delivered cost savings running into the millions for big online merchants such as Adobe and Microsoft.

Fintech

Aug 26, 2025

Cuscal swoops on Indue ahead of ASL marketing push

Cuscal boss Craig Kennedy says he has received positive feedback from Indue customers about his company’s proposed $75 million buyout of its Brisbane-based rival.

Fintech

Aug 19, 2025

Banks among potential suitors for Tyro but still no sale

Tyro investors are jittery after it revealed it had rejected several offers to sell its business but still hasn’t landed a buyer.

Banks

Aug 19, 2025

CBA eyes massive capital gain on Klarna IPO

As one of Klarna’s largest shareholders, Commonwealth Bank is set to book a fat gain when the buy now pay later company floats its operations on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fintech

Aug 19, 2025

VC cash runs dry for retail payments fintechs

Venture capital support for retail payments fintechs continues to wither. But it’s a different story for enterprise-focused fintechs and retail players active in the wealth management and lending sectors.

Regulation

Aug 12, 2025

ACCC missing in action on anti-competitive payments deals across the public sector

The ACCC prefers to do nothing when state and federal government agencies such as Transport for NSW enter deals that stifle competition in the payments industry.

Fintech

Aug 12, 2025

Mutual bank executives pampered in Brisbane as Cuscal and ASL go into battle

Cuscal and ASL this week fired the opening salvos in their emerging war for outsourcing mandates in the mutual banking sector.

Fintech

Aug 12, 2025

Rankin departs Azupay board

Payments industry veteran Kirsty Rankin has pulled stumps on her time as a director of Azupay.

Fintech

Aug 5, 2025

European payments giant eyes Cuscal’s Aussie customers

Luxembourg-based Banking Circle is preparing to challenge Cuscal’s dominance of payments outsourcing after local regulators approved its buyout of Australian Settlements Ltd.

Cash

Aug 5, 2025

Westpac still spruiking special fee offer to new business customers even though it will be scrapped in a few weeks

Westpac will slash the entitlements of business customers to free staff-assisted transaction services at the end of August. But that hasn’t stopped the bank from using the offer to lure new customers.

Merchant Service Fees

Jul 29, 2025

RBA reforms stoke fee and bargaining distortions in the payments sector

The Reserve Bank’s inaction on blended rate plans and its unwillingness to strengthen collective bargaining with banks have narrowed strategic options for small businesses.

Fintech

Jul 22, 2025

PayPal Australia appoints former ANZ executive to its board

Jenny Fagg, the banker who built the business case for the New Payments Platform, joins PayPal Australia as an independent director

Regulation

Jul 22, 2025

Taiwan bank eyes push into Australia

Taiwanese financial services giant Fubon Financial has applied for an Australian banking licence.

Jul 17, 2025

Change at the top of ANZ Worldline after CEO resigns

John Collins has been appointed interim chief executive of ANZ's merchant acquiring joint venture with Worldline following the departure of Steve Aliferis.

Fintech

Jul 15, 2025

Buyout target Smartpay exposed to fallout from RBA reforms

Publication of the RBA’s payments roadmap put Tyro’s share price under pressure on Tuesday, but the business fallout will be more widely distributed in the payments sector.

Merchant Service Fees

Jul 15, 2025

Retailers accuse RBA of “political fix” on card fees

Small business groups say the RBA’s proposed reforms won’t bring down card fees anywhere near as much as anticipated, and consumers will end up paying higher prices.

Banks

Jul 8, 2025

ANZ Worldline eyes more capital to address loan breach and funding

Struggling merchant payments provider ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions posted a record loss of $68.9 million in the 12 months to the end of December.

Banks

Jul 1, 2025

ANZ appoints tech executive to Worldline Australia Board

Peter Barrass is one of ANZ’s most successful technology executives after he engineered an overhaul of the group’s institutional payments arm. The bank has now tapped him to join the board of its ailing merchant payments joint venture with Worldline.

Regulation

Jul 1, 2025

RBA reforms may force Macquarie to rework its banking model

Australia’s fastest-growing debit card issuer – Macquarie Bank – may have to overhaul parts of its business if the Reserve Bank tightens debit card regulation later this year.

Merchant Service Fees

Jun 24, 2025

Chalmers dodges a productivity test on payments

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ducked for cover after his office was asked to explain why taxpayers are wearing the cost of government agencies only being able to accept online debit card payments processed through the Visa and Mastercard networks.

Merchant Service Fees

Jun 17, 2025

PayPal hikes Australian merchant fees as revenue flatlines

For many years PayPal has been a leading online processor of merchant transactions. However, recent financial disclosures indicate that the company is losing ground in the Aussie payments market to Stripe and others.

Merchant Service Fees

Jun 10, 2025

Taxpayers foot the cost of RBA’s EasyPay service

In 2021 the Reserve Bank gave banks 12 months to roll out least-cost routing for card-not-present payments. However, in 2025 the RBA-managed online payments platform - EasyPay – still hasn’t processed an eftpos transaction.

Regulation

Jun 3, 2025

Taxpayer millions and privacy on the line as ANZ Worldline flounders

As Victorian taxpayers gift millions to ANZ’s ailing partnership with French payments giant Worldline, some serious questions have emerged about the Reserve Bank’s management of an outsourcing deal with the joint venture.

Banks

May 27, 2025

ANZ Worldline cedes market share to Stripe and other non-bank acquirers

Stripe is making big inroads into the Australian acquiring market at the expense of ANZ Worldline and Westpac.

Fintech

May 20, 2025

Adyen reports record Australian growth and a compliance breach

Dutch-owned merchant payments provider, Adyen, could be facing heightened regulatory scrutiny of its Australian business after a local audit by PwC found that the subsidiary may have breached a condition of its financial services licence.

Government

May 7, 2025

Chalmers ready to pull the trigger on merchant fee reform

The clock is already ticking for the Albanese Government to lower merchant service fees and ban surcharging on debit transactions - two of the Labor Party’s policy pledges at the recent federal election.The legislative reforms create wide-ranging discretionary powers for the Treasurer to regulate payments system participants.

Cards

Apr 23, 2025

Discover eyes Aussie expansion in global push to take on Visa and Mastercard

United States regulators have given the green light to a mega-merger in the financial services industry that could have big implications for global payments markets, including Australia.

Nov 7, 2024

Bank outages put cash in the spotlight

As the average duration of system outages continues to blow out, Australian banks are facing a backlash from retail and business customers over the perceived instability of their digital banking platforms and payments channels.

Cards

Oct 15, 2024

RBA mulls radical reform of payments market

The Reserve Bank is considering the biggest overhaul of the payments system in more than 20 years as it recasts the long-running public debates over merchant fees and surcharging within its broader campaign against inflation.

LCR

Oct 8, 2024

Is the RBA about to blend the battle for lower merchant fees with its war on inflation?

“Given the RBA’s present priority on curbing retail inflation, an emerging question is whether Governor Michele Bullock will be looking to recast the battle over merchant fees as a macroeconomic concern.”