A cool $6.4 billion evaporates in cloud of merchant fee mystique

By Michael Sainsbury, Senior Business Correspondent

Businesses incurred $6.4 billion in annual merchant fees just for accepting debit and credit cards during the 2022/2023 fiscal year across Australia, but it is almost impossible to track where all the money went.

These fees are collected by the nation’s banks, card schemes and other - mainly fintech - payments providers on almost $900 billion worth of transactions, yet their complex web is almost completely opaque.

TNS takes reigns of “secure, stable and efficient” COIN 

By Warwick Ponder, Managing Editor

The migration of the underlying network of COIN (Community Of Interest Network) from Telstra to Transaction Network Services (TNS) is now complete, according to TNS.

TNS is partnering with Australian Payment Network’s (AusPayNet) to deliver a new, fully managed infrastructure for the Community of Interest Network (the COIN).

Every BECS debit, eftpos, BPAY and cheque transaction in Australia, now relies on the TNS end-to-end managed network service to transport essential real-time authorisation and settlement files.

Government to mandate cash for essentials, while phasing out cheques

By Staff Reporter

The Albanese Government this week announced it was taking action so Australians can continue to pay with cash for essential items if they want to, while also ensuring an orderly transition to phase out cheques.

A joint statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, said that while Australians were increasingly using digital payment methods, “there is an ongoing place for cash in our society”.

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