News on regulation, including from Treasury, the RBA, ACCC, AUSTRAC and other authorities
Merchant Service Fees
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Dec 3, 2025
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The Reserve Bank of Australia will not bow to pressure to delay its inquiry into surcharge and card fees, but instead appears to be preparing to deliver the banks a win on interchange.
Digital & Online
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New PEXA CEO Russell Cohen has bulked up his executive team and cleaned house as he prepares for more government and regulatory scrutiny.
Regulation
It’s clear the RBA knows exactly what it wants in a new A2A Payments Hub build. It has ruled out consortia or any alternative network designs, possibly leaving only a few players who can fit the bill.
Retailers have called on the payments industry to speed up disconnections of illegal tobacco stores, as their revenues take a significant hit.
+3
Nov 26, 2025
ANZ, like its peers and PSPs, has not revealed how many illicit tobacco merchants have been cut off, as AUSTRAC orders an audit of WorldRemit for child exploitation payments and targets others.
Employers have been warned to move early on payday super, with the ATO expecting 25 times the number of rejected contribution payments and payroll platforms pre-empting cash flow management issues.
Cuscal expects to finalise its acquisition of Indue next week, after clearing the last regulatory hurdle.
Australia’s critical infrastructure regime covers 13 sectors including financial services, but is the regime in the sector as strong and resilient as Australians need their payments infrastructure to be?
Nov 19, 2025
With ANZ Worldline also taking action, questions remain over whether Westpac and NAB are making any credible efforts.
In a moment of payments regulatory irony, a court settlement in the US may give merchants the right to surcharge costly rewards, premium and corporate credit cards, just as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) looks to ban the practice here.
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Westpac CEO, Anthony Miller told the Standing Committee on Economics yesterday that rewards are funded by interchange fees, despite the Reserve Bank ruling them an ineligible interchange cost.
Fintech
Nov 12, 2025
“Just like the banks, payment platform providers should already be alive to the risks of illicit tobacco profits and consider who they are providing services to and how much risk they carry,” AUSTRAC.
A revised closure timeline for the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) will be front and centre when the new Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino talks publicly on payments strategy for the first time in Sydney next month.
New RBA data shows Australian merchants are paying $300 million more annually in card fees, despite political and regulatory scrutiny on surcharging and interchange reform.
Feedback has now closed on the Retail Payment System (Ban on Merchant Surcharges) Amendment Bill introduced to New Zealand Parliament on September 16 and groups have voiced their concerns about the impact on businesses and consumers.
Nov 5, 2025
With the Payday Superannuation Bill passing through parliament yesterday, three Australian technology companies are mobilising to ensure compliance with the seven-day super payment expectation.
An ACCC win that would allow it access to more of Mastercard’s internal documents in its three and a half year battle against the card scheme, can be challenged and could impact the case.
Small businesses could be left counting the cost if they succumb to heavy marketing incentives to sign up to hefty blended rate surcharging plans ahead of a looming ban.
Two new reports have articulated stresses facing the nation’s small businesses, as the Reserve Bank of Australia considers the future of surcharging and merchant fees which could deal another blow to the sector.
As violence escalates in Australia’s $10b illegal tobacco wars, Tyro and Square have started pulling out payments terminals - while other PSPs and payment facilitators are sitting on their hands and counting the fees.
Cash
Oct 29, 2025
Strike action from cash-in-transit workers hit the Spring Racing Carnival just days after the ACCC has issued a draft determination green lighting the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and other industry partners to develop ways to ensure the continued distribution of cash across Australia.
Cuscal is set to welcome about 20 new bank, government and fintech customers to its fold, after the ACCC cleared the way for its proposed $75 m acquisition of Indue Limited.
Industry insiders and proceeds of crime experts question whether PSPs are making any effort to help halt the $10 billion trade - and whether the latest government task force will make a difference.
AusPayNet will communicate a revised roadmap for the BECS shutdown before the end of the year, as the Reserve Bank urges the industry to cooperate on a shared vision for Account-to-Account (A2A) payments and expect “trade-offs”.
Oct 22, 2025
Only fuel and groceries have been classified as “essential purchases” under draft regulations released for comment on Friday, with medicines, government services and clothing among items failing to qualify.
