Read stories from Senior Business Correspondent,
Michael Sainsbury
Banks
+1
Nov 19, 2025
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6 min read
NAB races to land Citi migration by December as customers brace for rewards change
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.
Fintech
+3
Nov 12, 2025
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6 min read
ANZ Worldline gets tough on illegal tobacco as AUSTRAC targets banks and PSPs
“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.
Fintech
+2
Nov 12, 2025
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6 min read
Toast set to smoulder in busy Aussie hospitality market
The US payments giant Toast faces a bewildering array of competitors in a market primed for change with the banning of surcharges.
Fintech
+3
Nov 12, 2025
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6 min read
Tyro locks in new CEO as suitors continue to circle
Shareholders are agitating for incoming chief Nigel Lee to realise some value for the company.
Fintech
+3
Nov 5, 2025
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5 min read
Tyro and Square cut off illicit tobacco merchants, as KYC rules go out the window
As violence escalates in Australia’s $10b illegal tobacco wars, Tyro and Square have started pulling out payments terminals - while other PSPs and payment facilitators are sitting on their hands and counting the fees.
Fintech
+2
Oct 29, 2025
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10 min read
ANZ outage highlights digital payments cloud concentration by three major suppliers
Amazon and Microsoft host the lion’s share of digital payments infrastructure amid concerns about data sovereignty and outages.
Fintech
+4
Oct 22, 2025
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7 min read
Payments companies from CBA to Westpac to ANZ Worldline may be enabling criminal gangs with illegal tobacco sales
“Our message is clear: if you profit from illicit tobacco in Australia, you are operating illegally,” says Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
LCR
+1
Oct 22, 2025
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6 min read
The quiet sunset of eftpos-only prop cards
Banks are removing eftpos-only “prop” cards and the nation’s fastest growing card issuer Macquarie has an eftpos exemption casting a further shadow over least-cost routing.
Fintech
+4
Oct 15, 2025
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5 min read
Square, CBA, NAB and Tyro ready to pull illegal tobacco terminals
A number of Payment Service Providers say they are actively working to identify and block illegal tobacco businesses and remove their POS terminal services.
Fintech
+1
Oct 8, 2025
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8 min read
Fintech freeze deepens as ANZ kills 1835i, leaving future of key investments unclear
The decision to kill its venture arm reflects internal pressures, a deteriorating external environment and an uncertain future for ANZ-backed fintechs left standing.
Fintech
+1
Oct 8, 2025
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5 min read
Global card schemes and PSPs minimise their Australian tax
Booking revenue offshore, returning funds to offshore parents and other sophisticated tax tricks mean multinational payments and tech giants are contributing little to the tax base, despite billions in revenues.
Fintech
+2
Sep 24, 2025
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10 min read
Wage-advance ‘fintechs’ slip through the regulatory net
With BNPL now regulated, a slew of wage-advance ‘fintechs’ remain effectively unregulated and highly secretive, thriving on the cost-of-living crisis.
LCR
+1
Sep 10, 2025
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5 min read
AP+ sets early 2026 launch date for LCR on Click to Pay
eftpos owner AP+ is chasing Mastercard’s aggressive Click to Pay rollout in the land grab to embed tokens and least-cost routing for online card payments.
Fintech
+1
Sep 10, 2025
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7 min read
Does ANZ’s fintech fire-sale signal the beginning of a trend?
ANZ has dumped three fintech bets in a matter of days, a sharp shift away from underperforming payments-led experimentation.
LCR
+1
Aug 27, 2025
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9 min read
Mastercard Click to Pay: security push, or LCR firewall?
Australia’s two biggest issuers are bulk‐enrolling millions of Mastercard customers into tokenised, one‐click online checkout. Banks say it’s about fraud; critics say it sidelines eftpos and Least‐Cost Routing
Fintech
+2
Aug 13, 2025
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10 min read
Australia’s A2A transition: governance conflicts, delays, and global lessons
Despite an RBA prompted inquiry into A2A and plenty of warnings from fintechs like Zepto and Volt, a lack of industry coordination or tough regulation looks set to keep BECS operating well beyond 2030.
Cash
+1
Aug 6, 2025
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11 min read
Small businesses face massive trek when Bendigo closes last branch on Tasmania’s West Coast
More than 14 months after a government inquiry made a series of recommendations about regional branch closures, the only action has been a publicity stunt by the Australian Banking Association.
Fintech
+2
Jul 30, 2025
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9 min read
Will Beem re-emerge as regulators eye iPhone NFC?
Can Beem finally win against Apple, or has the horse bolted?
Cash
+3
Jul 23, 2025
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8 min read
Next Payments pulls ATMs from illegal tobacco stores but bank POS terminals remain
Despite not being subject to AUSTRAC rules, Next Payments has taken its own initiative on illegal tobacco, shaming banks and others that continue to provide terminals. CEO Tim Wildash simply says, "no (tobacco) licence, no ATM".
Cash
+2
Jul 16, 2025
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8 min read
The thorny acronyms of criminals and payments: ATMs, POS and KYC
The Australian payments system is wrestling with a multi-pronged crime problem: trying to clean up old-fashioned ATMs and point of sale (POS) terminals in illegal tobacco and vape stores, while struggling to corral a new breed of crypto ATMs that are quietly multiplying and also attracting criminals.
Fintech
+1
Jul 9, 2025
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6 min read
Till founder Shadi Haddad and Nuvei face possible lawsuit
On July 2, the NSW Supreme Court gave major investors Silva Fortune and NGP Investments access to Till financial records, that may also reveal whether Till’s acquisition was at arm's length.
Banks
+1
Jul 9, 2025
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7 min read
Westpac live with Confirm Payee, while the industry lurches towards possible Christmas rollout
The so-called launch of the ‘Confirm Payee’ anti-scam technology is less than it looks and its hardly the first time the Australian Banking Association had buried the small print.
Fintech
+2
May 16, 2025
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8 min read
Prospects for competition in e-conveyancing fading fast
Prospects for real competition in the electronic conveyancing sector now rest on a Senate inquiry in Canberra, after one of two prospective competitor to monopoly player PEXA walked away and payments industry body AusPayNet launched a new “code of practice” in an effort to avoid regulation.
Banks
+1
May 1, 2025
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9 min read
Urgency around Apple’s control over mobile wallets in Australia intensifies with EU fine
Apple’s €500 million (AUD$887 million) fine by the European Union last week for antitrust violations linked to its App Store policies has reignited scrutiny of the technology giant’s struggles with regulators worldwide including Australia over its control of mobile payment systems and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
Fintech
+1
Apr 17, 2025
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7 min read
Payments sector shake up looming ahead of RBA findings
Australia's payments sector is bracing for significant upheaval ahead of regulatory change this year, with market consolidation and cashed up new entrants set to reshape the landscape.
Fintech
+1
Apr 8, 2025
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5 min read
Pyng makes a ripple, but the Waave seems a long way off
Despite all the hype only one Australian Fintech - Pyng - appears to be making small inroads into real time point of sale (POS) retail payments in the Australian market, but it has a very long way to go to challenge the dominant card schemes.
Fintech
+2
Oct 17, 2024
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8 min read
Will a surcharge ban help big banks kill their competition?
A lucrative part of the fintech sector that provides competition to Australia’s dominant banks in payments has been upended by the Albanese government’s intention to put an end to rising debit card fees (and surcharging), and a looming Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) review.
