Information Age
"Executives from some of Australia’s largest banks say social media and telecommunications companies are not doing enough to fight scams and fraud on their platforms, as the country’s financial giants reveal they are testing a new layer of security billed as a world-first. ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, and Suncorp Bank announced they had begun piloting new tech from Israeli cyber security company BioCatch as part of their intelligence-sharing network."
Treasury
"Although they were once a cornerstone of Australia’s payment system, cheques now account for less than 0.1% of total volume of retail payments in Australia. Winding them down in a staged, responsible manner will help reduce transaction costs across the economy, drive down the costs of the associated goods and services and improve productivity."
AusPayNet
"AusPayNet’s 2024 Annual Review, ‘Making it happen’, reflects on our work throughout FY2024 to help facilitate the continued evolution of payments in Australia."
Yahoo Finance
"Mastercard and Visa have warned of the "unintended consequences" if the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) makes changes to card fees. The RBA is conducting a large-scale investigation into the card system, how they affect people across the country, and whether they're still fit for purpose more than 20 years after they were introduced."
Australian Financial Review
"The Reserve Bank of Australia is considering restricting the fees that payments providers such as banks receive for processing debit card transactions, warning the cost on businesses may be too high. The central bank’s deliberations come as Labor prepares to ban retailers from passing on fees for debit card payments in the form of a surcharge."
Reuters
"Australia is planning to reduce bank card surcharges, including the elimination of transaction fees on debit cards, the government said on Monday, as the use of cash declines in the country. In a media release, the government said the central bank was undertaking a review of the merchant card payment costs and surcharging, and subject to that consultation, it is prepared to ban debit card surcharging from 2026."
Banked
"In a landmark deal set to put the spotlight on the continued global adoption of real-time account-to-account payments, Banked, a leading global Pay by Bank provider, today announced its acquisition of Australian payment technology firm Waave."
Reserve Bank of Australia
"The RBA undertakes regulatory and policy work on retail payment systems. Over the past year, the RBA focused on implementing policy actions aimed at enhancing competition and efficiency in the debit card market. The RBA also assisted Treasury and other regulatory bodies on reforms to the regulatory framework for payments."
Australian Financial Review
"US tech giants Apple and Google will let Australian retailers choose to send customers’ tap-and-go smartphone payments to the lower-cost eftpos network, something their digital wallets have prevented to date."
IBS Intelligence
"Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy, has joined Australian Payments Plus (AP+), Australia’s domestic payments organisation operating the BPAY, eftpos and NPP payment schemes, to develop new customer experience (CX) industry guidelines for PayTo."
MSN
"Australia's central bank has decided to prioritise work on a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) as its economic benefits are judged to outweigh those of a retail version, a top policymaker said on Wednesday."
SBS News
"A major bank boss has taken aim at "outrageous" card payment surcharges, saying they are no longer fit for purpose. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) plans to expedite a review of the practice and hopes to release a consultation paper on the issue by the end of the year."
Open Banking Expo
"Australia-based Adatree has launched a fraud prevention product that provides real-time account verification and balance checks and revealed that a state government entity will be the first to adopt it."
Cyber Daily
"The Australian Federal Police said that Operation Spincaster has already found more than 2,000 compromised Australian-owned crypto wallets."
FST Media
"J.P. Morgan Payments, the payments services and paytech development arm of US banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase, has been announced as the newest member of the AP+ network. Through its membership, the US payments giant will gain access to Australia’s domestic fast payments network, the New Payments Platform (NPP), as well as to EFTPOS’ online debit payments network for its customers."
Capital Brief
"There are further signs of momentum in the take-up of real-time payments in Australia with one of the leading fintechs in the space, Monoova, inking a deal with a major global insurance platform."
Finance Magnates
"In a world where digital transactions are increasingly becoming the norm, the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) recent speech by Ellis Connolly, Head of Payments Policy, sheds light on critical issues surrounding online retail payments. Delivered at the Merchant Risk Council Conference on June 18, 2024, Connolly’s address highlights both the advancements and challenges faced by Australia in this rapidly evolving sector."
Reserve Bank of Australia
"The payments landscape in Australia is continuing to evolve rapidly, with new business models and technologies emerging. This is particularly the case for online retail payments, which I will focus on today. But first, I will provide you with a brief update on the Australian Government’s reforms to the RBA’s regulatory role in payments and on the RBA’s upcoming review of retail payments regulation."
Australian Financial Review
"The Reserve Bank has flagged a crackdown on buy now, pay later operators, and may force them to let retailers pass the cost of the short-term credit on to customers, as it outlined plans to launch a review of payment regulations as soon as it is handed stronger powers."
MSN
"The Australian government on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firms to run credit checks on borrowers, aiming to regulate the rapidly growing sector popular among youth like other consumer credit products."
Afterpay
"Afterpay released new research which demonstrates the vital economic impact of Australia’s leading Buy Now Pay Later provider on its 3.5 million active customers and 129,000 merchants across the country."
Adyen
Adyen announced its partnership with Cover Genius, the global insurtech for embedded protection. Adyen is now one of the insurtech’s payment processing partners, offering local payment methods in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, to help the insurtech increase its authorisation rates for online payments.
Banked
"Leading global fintech Banked and National Australia Bank have launched a new partnership to accelerate the number of Australian merchants adopting and integrating account-to-account (A2A) payments solutions."
Yahoo Finance
Afterpay has announced a huge change to the way customers can pay for their purchases...Aussies will be allowed to choose the day of the week that they hand over their money from June 18.
Reserve Bank of Australia
"The Reserve Bank of Australia released a report analysing the benefits, design choices and challenges associated with linking fast payment systems across countries."
PR Newswire
"Finmo Tech Pte. Ltd announced its direct integration with Australia's New Payment Platform (NPP) as an identified institution through its partner bank, Australian Settlements Limited (ASL)."
Yahoo Finance
"Westpac has announced a new security feature, known as Westpac SaferPay, which will flag payments with a high scam risk and present customers with a series of questions."
Yahoo Finance
"The majority of Aussies are worried about the country moving towards a cashless society, as experts say we will become “functionally cashless” by the end of the decade."
Asset Servicing Times
"Australian Payments (AP+) has selected Swift to build a service that aims to reduce the risk of misdirected payments and increase defenses against payment fraud...Swift’s selection to develop the Confirmation of Payee service for the NPP aims to build on its capabilities in AI and data services, including payment pre-validation for cross-border payments."
