Square is routing debit transactions through Visa and Mastercard rather than eftpos, raising questions about Cuscal’s role and the future economics of Australia’s domestic debit network.

After a direct transfer of its Australian Payments Plus (AP+) relationship, the newly acquired Bolt Group app continues to be directly banked through Cuscal, despite its new owner’s recent debanking problems at Banking Circle.

RBA Governor Michele Bullock expects to see problems after surcharging disappears next month, while small business merchants must wait months for clearer statements and regulators keep watch on scheme fees.

Groupe BPCE has built a bank-owned merchant platform to challenge Stripe in Europe. Commonwealth Bank’s IPSI acquisition raises the question: is the same model coming to Australian merchants through IPSI technology?

The ACCC has approved an ABA regional ATM trial, but limited it to 20 machines, three years and narrowly defined collaboration between banks and service providers under competition law protection.

The Intergenerational Report warns AI-powered scams, cyberattacks and geopolitical fragmentation will reshape payment risks, while Payday Super embeds payments infrastructure in Australia’s long-term economic and retirement policy over the four decades ahead.

On The Interchange Bench this week, Ollerenshaw joins Cuscal as chief people officer, Haylock goes to market at Hello, Amex serves up NRL slice of Americana, Visa’s up for some rugga schmoozing, and Visa/Mastercard settle US$167.5m ATM fee case.

The distinction between three and four party schemes in Australia is increasingly blurry, writes Vibhu Arya.

Westpac New Zealand will issue government-accredited digital credentials to business customers, allowing them to prove bank account details securely without emailing statements, screenshots or unnecessary personal information.