Governments across Australia scramble on surcharging after NSW unplugs “illegal” consumer fees

By Michael Sainsbury, Senior Business Correspondent

Scores of state and Federal government authorities across the country could have illegally surcharged Australians hundreds of millions of dollars to recoup merchant fees, following revelations that the New South Wales government has legal advice which indicates the practice is unlawful when applied to some government services.

Legal advice provided to the Minns government said that while businesses could recoup card and online transaction charges from the likes of Visa, Mastercard, eftpos and the banks, governments needed to enact legislation to do the same. The advice appears to impact all types of electronic transactions including cards, BPAY and real-time payments.

Harmonising cross border payments APIs will increase financial inclusion: report

By Staff Reporter

The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) has welcomed a new report calling for greater harmonisation of application programming interfaces (APIs) in cross-border payments.

The new CPMI report titled “Promoting the harmonisation of application programming interfaces to enhance cross-border payments” recommends a practical roadmap to increase API standardisation across borders, which is especially crucial for expanding financial inclusion and empowering micro-businesses and SMEs in the Asia Pacific region.

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