An explosive judgement against Bano in Banking Circle’s favour is the clearest statement yet from an Australian court that a rails provider which genuinely assesses a client as an unacceptable AML/CTF risk won't be forced to keep giving it access to the financial system.

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee spent three hours today hearing why the company that moves 85% of Australia's cash thinks the government's rescue plan is an outrageous affront, why the union says the bill forgot about safety entirely, why regional businesses are very worried about extra fees and why Treasury can't say what any of it will cost.

Despite a recent zombie fraud controversy, APRA has granted Revolut Payments Australia a licence to operate as an authorised-deposit taking institution (ADI) in what the UK-based fintech described as a “defining moment” in the company’s journey.

Tyro has formally launched Tyro Accounting, bringing the technology it acquired through fintech Thriday into its product suite as the payments provider expands beyond merchant acquiring into integrated business finance software.

With CBA the only local bank to have flagged using its local “on-us” advantage to create a strong local challenger, the deal could see a further deterioration in Australia’s payments sovereignty as the market moves online.

With credit rates set to contract more sharply than debit, US-based schemes Visa and Mastercard have renewed incentive to offer debit discounts to grow transaction volumes, but merchants are flying blind before the publication of new interchange tables.

Kinectify CEO, Joseph Martin, is in Australia for a few weeks, having just signed a run of club clients and met roughly 20 more venues in Queensland. His pitch is an arithmetic response to AUSTRAC’s new rules, and it should interest anyone in payments.

On The Interchange Bench this week, Galvin exits Bolt Group as Gonzalez jumps in, Duncan takes the wheel at iGoDirect cards and payments, Zip pulls out of New Zealand, Robinson joins Azupay as Head of Risk, 1Receipt gets a Victorian environmental gong, Cuscal and Zone partnership brings CDR-powered reconciliation and lots of new blood at Latitude.

With just 71 days until Australia's card surcharge ban begins, merchants are still in the dark about new interchange rates, as the RBA clarifies the rules but leaves commercial details to the card schemes, including possible exemptions.

The NSW Government has unveiled its first Payments Strategy, positioning the state as a major driver of Australia's payments modernisation agenda with a blueprint centred on real-time payments, cyber resilience, fraud prevention, artificial intelligence and customer-focused digital services.

The latest data from the RBA shows there is no trend away from using cash but there’s no surprise that there’s a trend away from ‘over the counter’ withdrawals as big banks rapidly close branches.

Westpac has joined the rest of the Big 4 in partnering with the One Stop One Story Hub, linking vulnerable customers directly with specialist banking support as financial abuse continues to emerge through everyday payments and digital banking interactions.

Australia's payments industry is urging small businesses that still rely on cheques to begin planning their transition to digital payment methods, warning the country's cheque system is now on a defined path to closure after decades of declining use.