LCR
News about Least-cost routing and its adoption in the Australian payments space
Fintech
+4
Dec 17, 2025
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Blockley hangs up his payments consulting hat
After 37 years of consulting for some of the nation’s biggest banks and global card schemes, the big end of town’s gun for hire Lance Blockley is hanging up his hat at The Initiatives Group (TIG) and passing on the mantle.
Cash
+12
Dec 17, 2025
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Massive year in payments but 2026 looms even larger
There will be little rest for the payments industry this summer, as businesses, regulators and lawmakers get ready for a raft of big changes in the New Year. In the final edition of PayDay News for 2025, we look at the big changes this year, and what to expect in 2026.
LCR
+1
Nov 5, 2025
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Magic! Your debit fees just transformed into higher credit
Turning debit into higher credit fees has always been the Holy Grail to boost issuer revenue. Visa may have finally found it, but merchants will pay handsomely for the “privilege”.
LCR
+1
Oct 29, 2025
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As ANZ Worldline moves on LCR, are Suncorp and Shift4 in its future?
With the ANZ acquisition of Suncorp leaving the future of its acquiring business uncertain and Shift4 buying up big parts of Worldline in the US, ANZ Worldline appears to be lifting its game on product development and Least-Cost Routing.
LCR
+1
Oct 22, 2025
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The quiet sunset of eftpos-only prop cards
Banks are removing eftpos-only “prop” cards and the nation’s fastest growing card issuer Macquarie has an eftpos exemption casting a further shadow over least-cost routing.
Cash
+5
Oct 8, 2025
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Online set to dominate card transactions by end of 2026
The latest RBA payments data reveals Australian card spending retreated to $92 billion in August, while device-not-present transactions broke through 45% of total payments for the first time, putting online and bill payments on track to dominate by end of 2026.
Cash
+6
Oct 1, 2025
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A big first year – our biggest stories
PayDay News celebrates its 1st birthday in October, so we thought it timely to revisit some of our biggest and most popular of the 400 stories published in our first year.
Fintech
+6
Sep 17, 2025
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With no consensus on card fees and surcharging, will the public interest prevail?
If the Reserve Bank wants consensus on its proposal for merchant fees and surcharging, it’s a lost cause. The best the central bank can hope for is a decision in the public interest, leveraging strong sentiment on issues such as scheme fees, least-cost routing and the burden on small business.
LCR
+1
Sep 10, 2025
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AP+ sets early 2026 launch date for LCR on Click to Pay
eftpos owner AP+ is chasing Mastercard’s aggressive Click to Pay rollout in the land grab to embed tokens and least-cost routing for online card payments.
Fintech
+2
Sep 10, 2025
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RBA asked to explain soaring merchant costs as it finalises reforms
Small business groups want the Reserve Bank to shed light on why the average fee to process an eftpos transaction is rising as wholesale costs decline and more banks make least cost routing available to merchants. They say it’s pointing to something profoundly dysfunctional in the Australian payments system.
LCR
+2
Sep 3, 2025
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Routing now available for 50 per cent of debit cards on mobile
Mobile least-cost routing (LCR) is now available to 50 per cent of cardholders, according Australian Payments Plus (AP+).
Fintech
+2
Aug 27, 2025
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Adyen halves merchant costs with AI-enabled dynamic routing
Adyen has achieved a breakthrough in lowering the payments costs borne by merchants in Australia and the US, using an AI-driven dynamic routing platform. The service has delivered cost savings running into the millions for big online merchants such as Adobe and Microsoft.
LCR
+1
Aug 27, 2025
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Mastercard Click to Pay: security push, or LCR firewall?
Australia’s two biggest issuers are bulk‐enrolling millions of Mastercard customers into tokenised, one‐click online checkout. Banks say it’s about fraud; critics say it sidelines eftpos and Least‐Cost Routing
Fintech
+5
Jul 30, 2025
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Specialty is key in new era of Aussie payments consulting
With increasing complexity around digital payments, a new breed of payments consultant is emerging in Australia focusing on niche specialisations to help businesses meet new challenges.
LCR
+1
Mar 11, 2025
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Impact of Mastercard global outage lessened by LCR at Aussie merchants
Least Cost Routing (LCR) came to the rescue on Sunday, as Mastercard users were unable to make online, in-person or ATM transactions on the US network.
LCR
+1
Mar 6, 2025
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Least cost routing finally enabled for some Google Wallet transactions
After more than five years of lobbying from Australian small business to reduce the cost of mobile transactions, eftpos functionality and least cost routing (LCR) is finally available for some Google Wallet mobile debit transactions in Australia.
Fintech
+3
Feb 17, 2025
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IPF wants action on merchant fees after record increases
The cost of card fees levied on businesses is at record levels, forcing higher surcharges for consumers in a cost of living crisis, according to the Independent Payments Forum (IPF).
