Macquarie wants AP+ running BECS and the NPP, while fintechs have attacked the NPP access costs.

When Government IT veteran Charles McHardie steps into the role of Chief Information Officer, the central bank will be battling decade-long delays in critical modernisation and the looming challenge of moving Government payments to the New Payments Platform (NPP).

Move over American Express, Commonwealth Bank just secured the exclusive rights to be Discover's issuer in Australia, with plenty of perks for high-end cardholders and an impressive acceptance footprint in countries like India, the Americas, Europe, China, Japan and Korea.

Lower interchange caps from October 1 are forcing both airline programs to move to direct earn and push customers to payment platforms, as Virgin flags 3-year Velocity overhaul.

Commonwealth Bank will cut its blended merchant fees to 0.99% from October, but the reduction does not appear to pass on all of the RBA’s looming cuts to interchange.

Aussie fintech Hello Clever has partnered with Banking Circle to expand the payment, settlement and treasury services it delivers to merchants both in Australia and internationally.

New research from AP+ and Crisil Coalition Greenwich says corporate Australia is embracing real-time payments as finance leaders look beyond speed, in preparation ahead of the end of BECS by 2030.

Businesses that play an important role in helping detect and prevent money laundering but are not enrolled under Australia’s AML and CTF laws should expect a notice from AUSTRAC.

The RBA has been regulating interchange for more than two decades but not everyone is a winner. The savings are distributed unequally between merchants based on size, and on October 1 we will likely see the same pattern repeated.

On The Interchange Bench this week, Stripe walks away from $53bn PayPal takeover, the ACCC advises on October 1 price displays, NSW Treasury names Ballantine as payments strategy delivery chief, Enander donned Managing Director PaidIt at PaidIt, Kydd leads payouts Global payments and Pay.com.au takes rewards model to US after $28m raise.

A new partnership will focus on integrating Chinese-originated payment methods with Australian and New Zealand card payment infrastructure, allowing businesses seamless payment networks across borders.

If Australian banks are trying to kill cash, Italy offers a fascinating warning: even mandating electronic payment acceptance across virtually the entire economy has failed to dislodge notes and coins.

Through the partnership of global company’s TenPay Global and Western Union, Weixin Mini Program launches, making Australia-to-China remittances more convenient and accessible.