Banks
News about the roles of banks and banking in the Australian payments space
Cash
+1
Jun 10, 2026
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Big four move to outfox Armaguard at arm's length
ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac have asked the ACCC for authorisation to run cash distribution through a jointly owned company that replaces Westpac as the Reserve Bank's licence holder, spreads the banknote liability 25% each, and keeps Armaguard at arm's length.
Banks
+1
Jun 10, 2026
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CBA unleashes AI “Companion” for testing on real customers
Commonwealth Bank’s AI vision just got real, with the bank unleashing “CommBank Companion” for testing on both businesses and consumers last week.
Banks
+1
Jun 3, 2026
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CBA sounds the bell on AI job losses but are payments functions on the block?
So far most Australian institutions have been reluctant to identify AI replacing jobs but the evidence from offshore on fraud, AML, compliance and back office staff is clear. The nation’s biggest payments player - Commonwealth Bank - is leading the AI charge locally, in the footsteps of global counterparts like HSBC, Citi, JP Morgan, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Block.
Fintech
+1
Jun 3, 2026
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Tyro to fire up banking licence with new hire
Tyro has held a full banking licence since 2015, the first Australian tech company to get one. For most of the years since, it's barely used it. A new job ad, posted by a new CEO with a battered share price, is the clearest signal yet that the quietest asset on Tyro's balance sheet is about to be asked to earn its keep.
Banks
+1
Jun 3, 2026
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Westpac data reveals rapid uptake in AI subscriptions
Westpac customers alone are paying $5.6 million a month on AI tools, according to the bank’s new payments data.
Banks
+1
May 27, 2026
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Visa ascendent in business card market as Westpac switches
Westpac moves new customers to Visa’s B2B ecosystem as the softer mortgage market focuses major banks even more intensely on business lending.
Banks
+1
May 20, 2026
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Budget plan to share tax data could reduce mortgage fraud
ATO data shared via the Consumer Data Right may not just speed up rental and loan applications, but also help the banks fight their $3 billion mortgage fraud problem.
Banks
+1
May 20, 2026
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Business credit is where the action (and interchange) is
Commonwealth Bank’s quarterly results show what is becoming a familiar pattern of business lending growth amongst the big bank card issuers, after NAB and Westpac also showed big spikes.
Fintech
+1
May 20, 2026
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NAB nabs loss-making Banked for a song
NAB has acquired loss-making account-to-account (A2A) fintech Banked for scrap, as a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the crowded New Payments Platform (NPP) fintech sector.
Banks
+1
May 13, 2026
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Can open banking help tackle Australia’s $82 billion illicit finance problem?
Plagued with delays and scope changes, the CDR rails were built to ease consumer switching — but industry experts said open banking could also help alert us to criminal activities across banks, telcos and platforms, including the growing mortgage fraud problem.
Fintech
+1
May 13, 2026
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CBA selects FIS to streamline reconciliations
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has enlisted the help of FIS to consolidate and automate reconciliation across the bank, with the solution to process over 150 million transactions daily.
Fintech
+1
May 13, 2026
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Paperwork: Why Xero won't join Australia's open banking yet
Xero is still sitting outside Australia's Consumer Data Right regime, blocked by a bank-administered paper form for so-called "nominated representatives" that 6 in 10 small business customers never manage to sign.
Banks
+2
May 13, 2026
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Visa partners to test agentic ecosystem
A host of Australian partners including ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Cuscal, ING, Latitude Financial, NAB, St. George, and Zip have signed up to Visa’s Agentic Ready program, in what Visa said was an important step in preparing the local ecosystem for the next phase of agentic commerce.
Cash
+1
May 13, 2026
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Westpac brings back cardless cash withdrawals ... with a twist
After pulling the plug in 2024, Westpac has brought back cardless cash withdrawals, to suit the modern era.
Banks
+1
May 6, 2026
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Digital trouble spots driving bank-based Digital Identity play ConnectID
Out of necessity rather than government intervention, the shift towards digital identity is moving rapidly, with ConnectID – a solution backed by Australian Payments Plus (AP+), Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac - taking a leading role.
Fintech
+1
May 6, 2026
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NAB-backed Banked quiet in Aussie market as local boss moves to Stripe
Former Banked and Waave boss Ben Zyl has moved to Stripe, as his former employer goes quiet in the Australian market and key customers appear to have moved on.
Fintech
+1
May 6, 2026
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Westpac and NAB ramp up as paytechs grab small business lending
Australia's banks are finally waking up to small business as data driven payments operators like PayPal, Square, Tyro, Stripe and BNPL offer easier credit options through “embedded finance” often linked to transactions.
Cash
+1
Apr 29, 2026
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Regional Australia doesn't need smarter ATMs, it needs bank branches
An ACCC filing suggests the Australian Banking Association wants multi-bank deposit ATMs to fill the gap left by 1,564 branch closures since 2020. But regional banks and their communities said a machine in a wall is no substitute for a person behind a counter.