Australia (AU)
Lead Signal
Australia has entered the most concentrated payments-regulation reform wave in its modern history, and this cycle establishes the first full standing baseline across all fourteen modules of the World Payments Monitor spine. At the centre sits Treasury's Payments System Modernisation program, which replaces the Corporations Act's "non-cash payment facility" concept with a technology-neutral, activity-based licensing regime, creating new payment financial products (payment instruments, stored value facilities including tokenised SVFs) and new financial services (payment facilitation, payment initiation, payment technology/enablement) that generally require an Australian Financial Services Licence. A Tranche 1a exposure draft was released on 9 October 2025, with commencement expected around 2027, twelve months after Royal Assent. The architecture is twin-peaks: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission holds conduct and AFSL authority while the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority takes a new non-ADI prudential lane for major stored-value-facility providers holding more than A$200 million in group-aggregate stored value. Separately, a Bill modernising the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 received Royal Assent on 19 September 2025, broadening the Reserve Bank of Australia's designation and oversight remit by widening the statutory definitions of "payment system" and "participant", effective December 2025.
The licensing overhaul is paired with a parallel safeguarding regime. Tranche 1b establishes customer-fund protection modelled on the Corporations Act client-money regime but adapted for payments: the primary safeguarding method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods available as alternatives, and removes the sophisticated-investor exemption for stored-value facilities, payment instruments and payment services. Treasury's draft also reclassifies payment stablecoins - stable-value instruments fully backed by cash or cash-equivalents - as "payment stablecoin SVFs", treating them more readily as electronic cash rather than under ASIC's prior non-cash-payment-facility treatment set out in Consultation Paper 381 of December 2024, with tokenised SVF providers facing monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights and adverse-event disclosure.
Collectively, this single reform program draws merchant acquirers, remitters, prepaid and e-money operators, payment facilitators, point-of-sale technology providers and stablecoin issuers into a unified AFSL perimeter for the first time, reshaping market-access economics for every non-bank payment service provider operating in Australia.
Outlook
The next twelve months bring a dense sequence of commencement dates. Pre-existing service-provider contracts must meet CPS 230's full contractual requirements from the earlier of contract renewal or 1 July 2026. The Scams Prevention Framework's first sector obligations are targeted to take effect from 1 July 2026, alongside AUSTRAC's Tranche 2 DNFBP expansion and virtual-asset travel rule. SWIFT's retail cross-border framework is due to go live across its initial corridors, including Australia, by end-June 2026. Card issuers and acquirers face a longer runway to migrate to the Advanced Encryption Standard by December 2030, while the core AFSL licensing perimeter is not expected to commence until around 2027. Australia's payments industry, banks and non-banks alike, is moving through a rare period where licensing perimeter, safeguarding regime, scheme economics, scam liability and settlement access are all being reset within the same window, with the twin-peaks ASIC/APRA architecture as the structural throughline connecting each strand.
Other Developments
APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management commenced on 1 July 2025, replacing the former outsourcing and business-continuity standards, and requires regulated entities to manage operational risk, keep critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions, and formally manage material service-provider risk via a register and agreements; requirements for pre-existing service-provider contracts apply from the earlier of contract renewal or 1 July 2026, with payments expected to be classified a critical operation. On 30 April 2026 APRA finalised targeted amendments introducing a limited exemption from specific contractual requirements for arrangements with non-traditional service providers such as central banks, clearing and settlement facilities, payment systems and financial messaging infrastructures.
Following its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, the Reserve Bank decided to remove surcharging on designated debit, prepaid and credit networks, lower interchange caps - including a new foreign-interchange cap and transparency requirements - and proposed lowering the domestic credit interchange cap to 0.3%, in a market that uniquely combines weighted-average benchmarks with individual caps. Independent estimates suggest roughly 16% of merchants surcharge designated network card payments, with about A$1.6 billion paid by consumers and A$0.2 billion by businesses. The same reform brings merchant acquirers, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers into the AFSL regime as Payment Facilitation Service providers and requires large acquirers to publish their fees. The Payments System Board's annual review found high compliance with existing interchange, surcharging and access standards in 2024/25 and expects industry to migrate card payments to the Advanced Encryption Standard by December 2030.
The RBA's Project Acacia concluded that interoperable private tokenised money - stablecoins or tokenised commercial bank deposits - can support asset tokenisation, while central bank money retains a foundational role and many benefits can already be realised using existing Exchange Settlement Account balances. Its Final Report, published 19 May 2026, tested 24 use cases across stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC, and issued a world-first pilot wholesale CBDC directly onto third-party distributed-ledger platforms - total issuance of A$4.4 million - under ASIC regulatory relief, launching follow-on work including a possible regulatory sandbox and a Deposit Token Working Group. From 10 June 2025, buy-now-pay-later providers must hold a credit licence under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Act 2024, including responsible-lending obligations and Australian Financial Complaints Authority membership.
The RBA's February 2026 Bulletin found that transferring A$1,000 via major banks' international money-transfer services cost around 4% to advanced countries and 6% to developing countries in September 2025 - above the G20's 3% and 5% ceilings - while non-bank transfers to developing countries, at around 2%, beat the target; Australia remains well below the G20's speed target of settling 75% of transfers within an hour, partly for timezone reasons. Remittance corridors from Australia to Pacific Island countries face fragile connectivity and concentration risk, with a single bank in some cases providing correspondent services to several money-transfer operators amid reduced bank risk appetite and rising AML/CFT compliance costs. Australia is also among the initial corridors in SWIFT's new retail cross-border payments framework, with more than 25 banks - including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac - going live by end-June 2026.
The market structure underneath these reforms remains bank-dominated at the rails layer, with four major banks sitting alongside a vibrant fintech and non-bank layer of more than 150 active firms; domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus, which operates the New Payments Platform, eftpos and BPAY, with NPP volumes exceeding 100 million transactions a month.
The Federal Court ordered HSBC Australia to pay A$35 million on 18 June 2026 for scam-protection failures the judge found systemic and widespread, including an average scam-report investigation time of 144 days. FIIG Securities was ordered on 9 February 2026 to pay A$2.5 million, the first time the Federal Court has imposed civil penalties for cyber-security failures under general AFS licensee obligations, following a 2023 attack that exfiltrated about 385 gigabytes of client data. BPS Financial, operator of the Qoin crypto-token product, faced A$14 million in penalties after ASIC's Full Court appeal win of 30 May 2025.
The Scams Prevention Framework, a principles-based whole-of-ecosystem regime spanning banks, telecommunications carriers and digital platforms, commenced 21 February 2025 and carries civil penalties of up to A$50 million per contravention; unlike the UK's reimbursement model, it did not originally mandate reimbursement, relying instead on dispute resolution and court action. On 28 May 2026 Treasury released draft rules proposing a reimbursement scheme with a A$3,000 threshold and an equal-liability apportionment model, with first sector obligations targeted from 1 July 2026.
The reforms also introduce APRA-administered Common Access Requirements intended to open direct access to Australian payment systems for non-ADI payment service providers, while high-value and NPP settlement continues to run through the Reserve Bank's RITS system via Exchange Settlement Accounts.
On the commercial side, Airwallex secured a US$300 million Series F round in May 2025 at a US$6.2 billion valuation. Banking Circle acquired the ADI-licensed Australian Settlements Limited in January 2025 to bolster real-time clearing capability, and ASX-listed Tyro agreed to acquire NAB-backed fintech Thriday, with completion expected in January 2026.
Cross-Monitor Connections
Two threads in this cycle carry significance beyond payments-instrument analysis and are flagged to the Financial Integrity Monitor rather than analysed as illicit-finance questions here. AUSTRAC's AML/CTF reforms under the Amendment Act 2024 - carried in this brief via the Sentinel.gi feed only - close gaps against international standards: customer-due-diligence changes for existing reporting entities began 31 March 2026, and Tranche 2 extends obligations to designated non-financial businesses and professions from 1 July 2026 across a regulated population of roughly 100,000 entities, alongside a new International Value Transfer Service report replacing the former International Funds Transfer Instruction report and a travel rule applying to virtual-asset transfers from 1 July 2026. Second, the fragile correspondent-banking connectivity on the Australia-Pacific remittance corridor has financial-inclusion and illicit-finance dimensions that warrant attention from the Financial Integrity Monitor beyond this brief's corridor-dynamics view.
Domains
14 regulatory modules · click to expand the full sub-briefLicensing, Authorisation & Market Access
ConfirmedAustralia's payments-licensing perimeter is being rebuilt from the ground up.
Scheme & Network Compliance
ConfirmedThe Reserve Bank's Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging - Issues Paper October 2024, Consultation July 2025, Conclusions Paper March 2026 - has produced the most significant card-scheme rule change in years: a decision to remove surcharging on designated debit, prepaid and credit networks, lower interchange caps (including a new foreign-interchange cap and transparency requirements), and a proposal to lower the domestic credit interchange cap to 0.3%.
Consumer Protection & APP Fraud
ConfirmedThe Scams Prevention Framework, established under Part IVF of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 via the Scams Prevention Framework Act 2025 and commenced 21 February 2025, is a principles-based, whole-of-ecosystem regime - govern, prevent, detect, disrupt, respond, report - applying first to banks (regulated by ASIC), telecommunications carriers (ACMA) and digital platforms (ACCC), with civil penalties reaching A$50 million per contravention.
Commercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
AssessedAirwallex secured a US$300 million Series F round in May 2025 at a US$6.2 billion valuation, taking total equity raised above US$1.2 billion, with the company crossing a US$900 million annualised revenue run-rate and US$200 billion in annualised transaction volume - lead investors Square Peg and DST Global, with participation from Lone Pine Capital, Blackbird and Airtree.
Conduct, Safeguarding & Promotions
HighTranche 1b of the payments modernisation reform delivers the customer-protection detail underneath the new licensing perimeter.
Stablecoins & Digital Money
ConfirmedAustralia is charting a distinctive path for payment stablecoins: rather than a bespoke EMT/ART-style regime, Treasury's draft regulates them as "payment stablecoin SVFs" - tokenised stored-value facilities - provided they maintain stable value against fiat and are fully backed by cash or cash-equivalents, more readily treating them as electronic cash than under ASIC's prior non-cash-payment-facility approach set out in Consultation Paper 381 of December 2024.
Full per-domain detail — all 14 modules
W1aConfirmedLicensing, Authorisation & Market Access
see this theme across all jurisdictions →5 claimsAU twin-peaks (ASIC conduct/AFSL + APRA prudential); Payments System Modernisation replaces NCPF with activity-based AFSL licensing (payment instruments, SVFs/tokenised SVFs; payment facilitation/initiation/technology-enablement services); SVF >A$200m group-aggregate register with APRA; Tranche 1a draft 9 Oct 2025; commencement ~2027.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access
Australia's Tranche 1 payments-licensing reform represents the most significant expansion of the AFSL-based payment-regulation perimeter in over a decade. The Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2026: Payment Systems Modernisation, whose exposure draft was released on 12 March 2026 with consultation closing 9 April 2026, creates three new categories of AFSL-regulated payment service: payment facilitation, payment initiation, and payment technology/enablement. It also introduces a new stored-value facility (SVF) authorisation sitting alongside the AFSL structure. For non-bank payment institutions and e-money issuers, this marks the end of a long period in which many payment activities were conducted under exemptions or informal regulatory tolerance. The consolidated Tranche 1 package is targeted for introduction to Parliament in 2026, with a Tranche 2 covering access regimes, industry standards, and systemic infrastructure to follow in a subsequent legislative cycle.
The regulatory architecture established by the reforms is tripartite. ASIC will serve as the conduct regulator and licensor for payment service providers across the new AFSL categories. APRA will exercise prudential oversight over major SVF operators and designated payment-facilitation-service providers, with its threshold set at approximately A$200 million in aggregate stored value across a group's SVFs; entities crossing that threshold will access APRA oversight via a streamlined registration pathway that stops short of full ADI authorisation. The Reserve Bank of Australia retains payments-system oversight and designation powers under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act, preserving its role as the macro-level architect of the payments system even as ASIC and APRA take on the firm-level regulatory functions.
The bank versus non-bank distinction is structurally embedded in this architecture. ADIs — authorised deposit-taking institutions — already hold full prudential authorisation and direct Exchange Settlement Account access. Non-bank payment institutions entering the new licensing perimeter will be regulated by ASIC for conduct and, above the SVF threshold, by APRA for prudential purposes, but they will not automatically acquire ADI status or the settlement-access rights that come with it. The ESA access question is deferred to a separate RBA review commencing H2 2026 (see W12). This sequencing means that the licensing reforms will bring non-bank PSPs into a formal regulatory perimeter before the question of their direct central-bank settlement access is resolved — a gap that has operational and competitive implications for the non-bank sector.
The primary source gap for this module is notable: no Tier-1 primary Treasury or legislation.gov.au source was captured for the Payment Systems Modernisation Bill 2026 exposure draft this cycle; the findings rest on law-firm Tier-3 sources. The analytical conclusions are assessed as reliable given the convergence of multiple independent law-firm analyses, but readers requiring primary-source verification should consult the Treasury consultation page directly.
Outlook
The Tranche 1 package is targeted for Parliament in 2026. The precise legislative calendar has not been confirmed, and the exposure-draft consultation closed in April 2026, meaning the bill is likely in drafting or pre-introduction review at the time of this cycle. Non-bank PSPs that will fall within the new payment facilitation, payment initiation, or SVF categories should be assessing their licensing pathways now, including whether they will require a new AFSL, a variation to an existing AFSL, or an SVF authorisation. The APRA SVF threshold of approximately A$200 million will be a key sizing question for larger stored-value operators. Tranche 2 — covering access regimes and industry standards — will define the longer-run competitive structure of the market and is worth tracking as a second-order horizon item.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access
Australia's payments-licensing perimeter is being rebuilt from the ground up. Treasury's Payments System Modernisation program replaces the Corporations Act's "non-cash payment facility" concept with a technology-neutral, activity-based licensing regime that creates new payment financial products - payment instruments and stored value facilities, including tokenised SVFs - and new financial services covering payment facilitation, payment initiation, and payment technology/enablement, generally requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence. A Tranche 1a exposure draft was released on 9 October 2025, with commencement expected around 2027, twelve months after Royal Assent. The architecture is twin-peaks: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission holds conduct and AFSL authority while the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority takes a new non-ADI prudential lane for major stored-value-facility providers holding more than A$200 million in group-aggregate stored value. Separately, a Bill modernising the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 received Royal Assent on 19 September 2025, broadening the Reserve Bank's designation and oversight remit by widening the statutory definitions of "payment system" and "participant", effective December 2025 - a distinct expansion of RBA reach that runs alongside, rather than inside, the Corporations Act licensing tranche.
For non-bank PSPs specifically, the reform is existential: merchant acquirers, remitters, prepaid operators, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers that previously sat outside, or ambiguously within, the NCPF framework will require an AFSL for the first time. Bank-affiliated PSPs face a comparatively lighter incremental burden given existing ADI/AFSL infrastructure, sharpening the bank/non-bank asymmetry this module tracks.
Outlook
Commencement is not expected until roughly 2027, but the exposure-draft stage means affected firms already face a multi-year authorisation planning horizon. Watch for a Tranche 1a final bill, further guidance on the A$200 million SVF prudential threshold, and how APRA and ASIC coordinate dual oversight of stored-value-facility providers that cross into both regimes.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access
Australia's payments-licensing perimeter is being rebuilt from the ground up. Treasury's Payments System Modernisation program replaces the Corporations Act's "non-cash payment facility" concept with a technology-neutral, activity-based licensing regime that creates new payment financial products - payment instruments and stored value facilities, including tokenised SVFs - and new financial services covering payment facilitation, payment initiation, and payment technology/enablement, generally requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence. A Tranche 1a exposure draft was released on 9 October 2025, with commencement expected around 2027, twelve months after Royal Assent. The architecture is twin-peaks: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission holds conduct and AFSL authority while the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority takes a new non-ADI prudential lane for major stored-value-facility providers holding more than A$200 million in group-aggregate stored value. Separately, a Bill modernising the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 received Royal Assent on 19 September 2025, broadening the Reserve Bank's designation and oversight remit by widening the statutory definitions of "payment system" and "participant", effective December 2025 - a distinct expansion of RBA reach that runs alongside, rather than inside, the Corporations Act licensing tranche.
For non-bank PSPs specifically, the reform is existential: merchant acquirers, remitters, prepaid operators, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers that previously sat outside, or ambiguously within, the NCPF framework will require an AFSL for the first time. Bank-affiliated PSPs face a comparatively lighter incremental burden given existing ADI/AFSL infrastructure, sharpening the bank/non-bank asymmetry this module tracks.
Outlook
Commencement is not expected until roughly 2027, but the exposure-draft stage means affected firms already face a multi-year authorisation planning horizon. Watch for a Tranche 1a final bill, further guidance on the A$200 million SVF prudential threshold, and how APRA and ASIC coordinate dual oversight of stored-value-facility providers that cross into both regimes.
Read the full sub-brief
Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access
Australia's payments-licensing perimeter is being rebuilt from the ground up. Treasury's Payments System Modernisation program replaces the Corporations Act's "non-cash payment facility" concept with a technology-neutral, activity-based licensing regime that creates new payment financial products - payment instruments and stored value facilities, including tokenised SVFs - and new financial services covering payment facilitation, payment initiation, and payment technology/enablement, generally requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence. A Tranche 1a exposure draft was released on 9 October 2025, with commencement expected around 2027, twelve months after Royal Assent. The architecture is twin-peaks: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission holds conduct and AFSL authority while the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority takes a new non-ADI prudential lane for major stored-value-facility providers holding more than A$200 million in group-aggregate stored value. Separately, a Bill modernising the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 received Royal Assent on 19 September 2025, broadening the Reserve Bank's designation and oversight remit by widening the statutory definitions of "payment system" and "participant", effective December 2025 - a distinct expansion of RBA reach that runs alongside, rather than inside, the Corporations Act licensing tranche.
For non-bank PSPs specifically, the reform is existential: merchant acquirers, remitters, prepaid operators, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers that previously sat outside, or ambiguously within, the NCPF framework will require an AFSL for the first time. Bank-affiliated PSPs face a comparatively lighter incremental burden given existing ADI/AFSL infrastructure, sharpening the bank/non-bank asymmetry this module tracks.
Outlook
Commencement is not expected until roughly 2027, but the exposure-draft stage means affected firms already face a multi-year authorisation planning horizon. Watch for a Tranche 1a final bill, further guidance on the A$200 million SVF prudential threshold, and how APRA and ASIC coordinate dual oversight of stored-value-facility providers that cross into both regimes.
AU twin-peaks (ASIC conduct/AFSL + APRA prudential); Payments System Modernisation replaces NCPF with activity-based AFSL licensing (payment instruments, SVFs/tokenised SVFs; payment facilitation/initiation/technology-enablement services); SVF >A$200m group-aggregate register with APRA; Tranche 1a draft 9 Oct 2025; commencement ~2027.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
RBA sets interchange/surcharging under PSRA via designated schemes; Conclusions Paper Mar 2026 decided to remove surcharging on designated debit/prepaid/credit, lower caps (proposed 0.3% credit), foreign-interchange cap and fee transparency; AES migration by Dec 2030; Amex voluntary no-surcharge.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Cross-Border Payments & Remittance
No material W4-specific cross-border payments or remittance developments were identified for Australia this cycle. The new foreign-card interchange cap of 1% (down from as high as 2.4%), commencing 1 April 2027, has a cross-border dimension insofar as it applies to foreign-issued cards used in Australia, and is covered in full under W8.
Outlook
The AUSTRAC VASP regime (W1b) has cross-border value-transfer implications for remittance operators using virtual-asset rails. The W4 surface for Australia remains under-indexed this cycle.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Scheme & Network Compliance
The Reserve Bank's Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging - Issues Paper October 2024, Consultation July 2025, Conclusions Paper March 2026 - has produced the most significant card-scheme rule change in years: a decision to remove surcharging on designated debit, prepaid and credit networks, lower interchange caps (including a new foreign-interchange cap and transparency requirements), and a proposal to lower the domestic credit interchange cap to 0.3%. Australia is unusual in applying both weighted-average benchmarks and individual caps simultaneously (a 0.5% benchmark and 0.8% cap for credit today). These are set under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act via designated card schemes and RBA Standards; American Express, as a non-designated scheme, operates instead under a voluntary no-surcharge agreement.
Separately, the Payments System Board's annual review found a high level of compliance with the RBA's interchange, surcharging and access standards in 2024/25, and expects industry to migrate card payments to the Advanced Encryption Standard by December 2030 - the AU scheme-technical standard item this cycle, distinct from the globally-applicable PCI DSS standard, which applies in Australia via scheme/acquirer contract rather than a bespoke domestic instrument.
Outlook
Implementation of the surcharging ban and revised interchange caps is the item to track through 2026-27; the AES migration deadline of December 2030 is a longer-horizon scheme-technical marker.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Scheme & Network Compliance
The Reserve Bank's Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging - Issues Paper October 2024, Consultation July 2025, Conclusions Paper March 2026 - has produced the most significant card-scheme rule change in years: a decision to remove surcharging on designated debit, prepaid and credit networks, lower interchange caps (including a new foreign-interchange cap and transparency requirements), and a proposal to lower the domestic credit interchange cap to 0.3%. Australia is unusual in applying both weighted-average benchmarks and individual caps simultaneously (a 0.5% benchmark and 0.8% cap for credit today). These are set under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act via designated card schemes and RBA Standards; American Express, as a non-designated scheme, operates instead under a voluntary no-surcharge agreement.
Separately, the Payments System Board's annual review found a high level of compliance with the RBA's interchange, surcharging and access standards in 2024/25, and expects industry to migrate card payments to the Advanced Encryption Standard by December 2030 - the AU scheme-technical standard item this cycle, distinct from the globally-applicable PCI DSS standard, which applies in Australia via scheme/acquirer contract rather than a bespoke domestic instrument.
Outlook
Implementation of the surcharging ban and revised interchange caps is the item to track through 2026-27; the AES migration deadline of December 2030 is a longer-horizon scheme-technical marker.
Read the full sub-brief
Scheme & Network Compliance
The Reserve Bank's Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging - Issues Paper October 2024, Consultation July 2025, Conclusions Paper March 2026 - has produced the most significant card-scheme rule change in years: a decision to remove surcharging on designated debit, prepaid and credit networks, lower interchange caps (including a new foreign-interchange cap and transparency requirements), and a proposal to lower the domestic credit interchange cap to 0.3%. Australia is unusual in applying both weighted-average benchmarks and individual caps simultaneously (a 0.5% benchmark and 0.8% cap for credit today). These are set under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act via designated card schemes and RBA Standards; American Express, as a non-designated scheme, operates instead under a voluntary no-surcharge agreement.
Separately, the Payments System Board's annual review found a high level of compliance with the RBA's interchange, surcharging and access standards in 2024/25, and expects industry to migrate card payments to the Advanced Encryption Standard by December 2030 - the AU scheme-technical standard item this cycle, distinct from the globally-applicable PCI DSS standard, which applies in Australia via scheme/acquirer contract rather than a bespoke domestic instrument.
Outlook
Implementation of the surcharging ban and revised interchange caps is the item to track through 2026-27; the AES migration deadline of December 2030 is a longer-horizon scheme-technical marker.
RBA sets interchange/surcharging under PSRA via designated schemes; Conclusions Paper Mar 2026 decided to remove surcharging on designated debit/prepaid/credit, lower caps (proposed 0.3% credit), foreign-interchange cap and fee transparency; AES migration by Dec 2030; Amex voluntary no-surcharge.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
SPF (Part IVF CCA, commenced 21 Feb 2025): principles-based whole-of-ecosystem regime (banks/ASIC, telcos/ACMA, digital platforms/ACCC); A$50m/contravention; redress via IDR/AFCA + court; May 2026 draft proposes A$3,000 reimbursement threshold + equal liability; first sector obligations 1 Jul 2026.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Data, Privacy & Open Banking
No material W10-specific data, privacy, or open-banking developments were identified for Australia this cycle. Australia's Consumer Data Right framework, which underpins open banking, was not the subject of any new regulatory development captured this cycle.
Outlook
The W10 surface for Australia remains stable this cycle. Future cycles should monitor CDR expansion to additional sectors and any interaction between the CDR framework and the new payment-initiation service category introduced under the Tranche 1 licensing reforms.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Consumer Protection & APP Fraud
The Scams Prevention Framework, established under Part IVF of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 via the Scams Prevention Framework Act 2025 and commenced 21 February 2025, is a principles-based, whole-of-ecosystem regime - govern, prevent, detect, disrupt, respond, report - applying first to banks (regulated by ASIC), telecommunications carriers (ACMA) and digital platforms (ACCC), with civil penalties reaching A$50 million per contravention. Unlike the UK Payment Systems Regulator's reimbursement model, the SPF originally did not mandate reimbursement, with redress running through internal and external dispute resolution (AFCA) and court action; first sector obligations target effect from 1 July 2026. On 28 May 2026, Treasury released draft SPF rules and sector codes proposing a reimbursement scheme with a A$3,000 threshold and an equal-liability apportionment model - a shift toward automatic reimbursement below that threshold and a degree of convergence with the UK approach. Scam losses were around A$2 billion in 2025, down from a 2022 peak of A$3.1 billion, though the trend is reversing.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 first-sector-obligation date and the finalisation of the A$3,000 reimbursement threshold are the two events to track; the multi-regulator structure (ASIC/ACMA/ACCC) means implementation coordination across sectors is itself a risk to monitor.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Consumer Protection & APP Fraud
The Scams Prevention Framework, established under Part IVF of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 via the Scams Prevention Framework Act 2025 and commenced 21 February 2025, is a principles-based, whole-of-ecosystem regime - govern, prevent, detect, disrupt, respond, report - applying first to banks (regulated by ASIC), telecommunications carriers (ACMA) and digital platforms (ACCC), with civil penalties reaching A$50 million per contravention. Unlike the UK Payment Systems Regulator's reimbursement model, the SPF originally did not mandate reimbursement, with redress running through internal and external dispute resolution (AFCA) and court action; first sector obligations target effect from 1 July 2026. On 28 May 2026, Treasury released draft SPF rules and sector codes proposing a reimbursement scheme with a A$3,000 threshold and an equal-liability apportionment model - a shift toward automatic reimbursement below that threshold and a degree of convergence with the UK approach. Scam losses were around A$2 billion in 2025, down from a 2022 peak of A$3.1 billion, though the trend is reversing.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 first-sector-obligation date and the finalisation of the A$3,000 reimbursement threshold are the two events to track; the multi-regulator structure (ASIC/ACMA/ACCC) means implementation coordination across sectors is itself a risk to monitor.
Read the full sub-brief
Consumer Protection & APP Fraud
The Scams Prevention Framework, established under Part IVF of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 via the Scams Prevention Framework Act 2025 and commenced 21 February 2025, is a principles-based, whole-of-ecosystem regime - govern, prevent, detect, disrupt, respond, report - applying first to banks (regulated by ASIC), telecommunications carriers (ACMA) and digital platforms (ACCC), with civil penalties reaching A$50 million per contravention. Unlike the UK Payment Systems Regulator's reimbursement model, the SPF originally did not mandate reimbursement, with redress running through internal and external dispute resolution (AFCA) and court action; first sector obligations target effect from 1 July 2026. On 28 May 2026, Treasury released draft SPF rules and sector codes proposing a reimbursement scheme with a A$3,000 threshold and an equal-liability apportionment model - a shift toward automatic reimbursement below that threshold and a degree of convergence with the UK approach. Scam losses were around A$2 billion in 2025, down from a 2022 peak of A$3.1 billion, though the trend is reversing.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 first-sector-obligation date and the finalisation of the A$3,000 reimbursement threshold are the two events to track; the multi-regulator structure (ASIC/ACMA/ACCC) means implementation coordination across sectors is itself a risk to monitor.
SPF (Part IVF CCA, commenced 21 Feb 2025): principles-based whole-of-ecosystem regime (banks/ASIC, telcos/ACMA, digital platforms/ACCC); A$50m/contravention; redress via IDR/AFCA + court; May 2026 draft proposes A$3,000 reimbursement threshold + equal liability; first sector obligations 1 Jul 2026.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
W13AssessedCommercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
see this theme across all jurisdictions →4 claimsTrailing-12-month AU commercial activity: Airwallex US$300m Series F (May 2025, US$6.2bn); Banking Circle acquired ADI-status Australian Settlements Limited (Jan 2025); Tyro agreed to acquire Thriday (completion Jan 2026).
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Commercial Intelligence
No commercial events — M&A deals, investment or funding rounds, or product releases — were identified for Australian payment service providers this cycle. The gaps register records this as a standing under-indexed vector: private-company PSP funding and M&A signals were not surfaced for Australia in this run.
This gap is analytically significant given the material perimeter shift across W1a, W1b, and W8 this cycle. A new licensing perimeter for payment facilitation, payment initiation, and SVF services, combined with a mandatory safeguarding requirement and a card-surcharge ban, creates conditions in which commercial responses — consolidation, new investment, product repositioning — would be expected. The absence of W13 signal this cycle reflects a coverage gap rather than an absence of commercial activity.
Outlook
Future AU cycles should include targeted scraping for commercial events among Australian non-bank PSPs, particularly those that will be affected by the new AFSL licensing categories. M&A activity driven by licensing-cost economics, investment rounds targeting the new regulatory-compliant PSP category, and product launches responding to the surcharge ban are all plausible W13 developments that the current coverage architecture is not capturing.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Commercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
Airwallex secured a US$300 million Series F round in May 2025 at a US$6.2 billion valuation, taking total equity raised above US$1.2 billion, with the company crossing a US$900 million annualised revenue run-rate and US$200 billion in annualised transaction volume - lead investors Square Peg and DST Global, with participation from Lone Pine Capital, Blackbird and Airtree. Banking Circle acquired the ADI-licensed Australian Settlements Limited in January 2025 to bolster real-time clearing capability; deal terms were not publicly disclosed. ASX-listed Tyro agreed to acquire NAB-backed fintech Thriday, with deal terms not publicly disclosed and completion expected in January 2026.
Outlook
Continued capital flow to non-bank cross-border PSPs (Airwallex) and consolidation among listed and ADI-adjacent payments players (Banking Circle/Australian Settlements Limited, Tyro/Thriday) are the two commercial threads to track into the next cycle.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Commercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
Airwallex secured a US$300 million Series F round in May 2025 at a US$6.2 billion valuation, taking total equity raised above US$1.2 billion, with the company crossing a US$900 million annualised revenue run-rate and US$200 billion in annualised transaction volume - lead investors Square Peg and DST Global, with participation from Lone Pine Capital, Blackbird and Airtree. Banking Circle acquired the ADI-licensed Australian Settlements Limited in January 2025 to bolster real-time clearing capability; deal terms were not publicly disclosed. ASX-listed Tyro agreed to acquire NAB-backed fintech Thriday, with deal terms not publicly disclosed and completion expected in January 2026.
Outlook
Continued capital flow to non-bank cross-border PSPs (Airwallex) and consolidation among listed and ADI-adjacent payments players (Banking Circle/Australian Settlements Limited, Tyro/Thriday) are the two commercial threads to track into the next cycle.
Read the full sub-brief
Commercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
Airwallex secured a US$300 million Series F round in May 2025 at a US$6.2 billion valuation, taking total equity raised above US$1.2 billion, with the company crossing a US$900 million annualised revenue run-rate and US$200 billion in annualised transaction volume - lead investors Square Peg and DST Global, with participation from Lone Pine Capital, Blackbird and Airtree. Banking Circle acquired the ADI-licensed Australian Settlements Limited in January 2025 to bolster real-time clearing capability; deal terms were not publicly disclosed. ASX-listed Tyro agreed to acquire NAB-backed fintech Thriday, with deal terms not publicly disclosed and completion expected in January 2026.
Outlook
Continued capital flow to non-bank cross-border PSPs (Airwallex) and consolidation among listed and ADI-adjacent payments players (Banking Circle/Australian Settlements Limited, Tyro/Thriday) are the two commercial threads to track into the next cycle.
Trailing-12-month AU commercial activity: Airwallex US$300m Series F (May 2025, US$6.2bn); Banking Circle acquired ADI-status Australian Settlements Limited (Jan 2025); Tyro agreed to acquire Thriday (completion Jan 2026).
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- D
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Conduct of payment services sits under the AFSL regime (s912A Corporations Act: efficient, honest and fair; adequate resources; dispute resolution; AFCA membership for retail). Safeguarding under the modernisation reforms is based on the Corporations Act client-money regime, adjusted for payments: the primary method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods as alternatives. The reforms remove the sophisticated-investor exemption for SVFs/payment instruments/payment services, so even wholesale dealings carry baseline obligations (IDR; AFCA where retail). Financial-promotion conduct around payments/crypto is supervised by ASIC; safeguarding/conduct detail (incl. unclaimed money, APRA powers, mandatory ePayments Code power) is being delivered via Tranche 1b.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Conduct, Safeguarding & Financial Promotions
The conduct and safeguarding layer of the Australian payments-reform cycle is as active as the licensing layer, with three distinct developments converging in the 2026–2027 window.
The most operationally immediate is the safeguarding requirement introduced under the Payments Systems Modernisation reforms. Non-bank PSPs will be required to segregate payment-related customer money in a trust account held with an Australian ADI. A mandatory, revised ePayments Code will be introduced via a new rule-making power. The trust-account requirement is analytically significant beyond its face value as a consumer-protection measure: it creates a structural dependency of non-bank PSPs on ADIs. To satisfy a statutory safeguarding obligation, a non-bank PSP must maintain or establish a banking relationship with an ADI. In a market where de-risking dynamics have historically constrained non-bank PSPs' access to banking services, this requirement could function as an indirect market-access barrier for smaller or higher-risk entrants. This dynamic will be tested as the licensing reforms come into force and as the RBA's ESA access review (W12) progresses.
The digital-asset conduct framework is advancing on a parallel track. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2025 received royal assent in April 2026 and is scheduled to commence on 8 April 2027. The Act embeds digital-asset licensing concepts within the AFSL framework, meaning that entities providing financial services in relation to digital assets will need to hold or vary an AFSL from that date. ASIC's transitional no-action position for unlicensed digital-asset financial-product services required that an AFSL application or variation be lodged by 30 June 2026 to remain operative. This deadline has passed or is passing at the time of this cycle; entities that did not lodge by that date are no longer covered by the no-action position and face enforcement exposure.
The AML/CTF dimension of the digital-asset conduct framework is provided by AUSTRAC's FATF-aligned virtual-asset service provider regime, which commenced on 31 March 2026. The regime requires AUSTRAC registration and an AML/CTF programme for virtual-asset and value-transfer designated services. This finding was surfaced via the W1b licensing lens rather than through a direct Sentinel W11 feed, which was not available for Australia this cycle. The AML/CFT surface for Australian virtual-asset operators should therefore be understood as potentially broader than what this cycle's coverage reflects; a cross-monitor flag has been raised to the Financial Intelligence Monitor. Financial-promotion enforcement — specifically ASIC-specific actions on surcharging or BNPL promotion — was not directly queried this cycle and represents a standing gap.
The bank versus non-bank distinction runs through all three developments. The safeguarding trust-account requirement applies to non-bank PSPs, not to ADIs, which are already subject to prudential requirements that address customer-money protection. The digital-asset AFSL and AUSTRAC VASP registration requirements apply to non-bank entities operating in the digital-asset space; ADIs providing digital-asset services will engage with these frameworks differently, typically through existing AFSL and AML/CTF programme structures.
Outlook
The 30 June 2026 ASIC no-action deadline is the most immediate conduct-layer milestone. The Digital Assets Framework Act commences 8 April 2027, giving entities that have lodged AFSL applications a transition window to obtain authorisation before the Act is in force. The safeguarding trust-account requirement will come into force as part of the Tranche 1 licensing package, timing contingent on Parliament. The AUSTRAC VASP regime is already live. The combination of these four developments means that non-bank PSPs operating in or adjacent to the digital-asset space face a compressed multi-front compliance timeline across 2026 and 2027.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Conduct, Safeguarding & Promotions
Tranche 1b of the payments modernisation reform delivers the customer-protection detail underneath the new licensing perimeter. Safeguarding is modelled on the Corporations Act client-money regime, adjusted for payments: the primary method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods available as alternatives, and ASIC-regulated and APRA-regulated entities will operate under separate safeguarding frameworks. A significant conduct change accompanies this: the sophisticated-investor exemption is removed for stored-value facilities, payment instruments and payment services, meaning internal- and external-dispute-resolution obligations (including AFCA membership) now extend even to wholesale dealings that were previously exempt. Tranche 1b also delivers an unclaimed-monies framework, new APRA supervisory powers, and a rule-making power to mandate a revised ePayments Code - the instrument already central to this cycle's HSBC Australia scam-liability judgment (see Legal & Litigation).
For non-bank PIs and EMIs, the trust-account segregation requirement is a direct capital and operational-structure determinant, since it fixes how customer funds must be held relative to a bank counterparty rather than leaving safeguarding to commercial discretion.
Outlook
Expect Tranche 1b detail to firm up alongside Tranche 1a commencement planning; the mandatory-ePayments-Code rule-making power is the item most likely to generate near-term secondary consultation, given its direct link to the scam-liability standard already being set through enforcement.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Conduct, Safeguarding & Promotions
Tranche 1b of the payments modernisation reform delivers the customer-protection detail underneath the new licensing perimeter. Safeguarding is modelled on the Corporations Act client-money regime, adjusted for payments: the primary method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods available as alternatives, and ASIC-regulated and APRA-regulated entities will operate under separate safeguarding frameworks. A significant conduct change accompanies this: the sophisticated-investor exemption is removed for stored-value facilities, payment instruments and payment services, meaning internal- and external-dispute-resolution obligations (including AFCA membership) now extend even to wholesale dealings that were previously exempt. Tranche 1b also delivers an unclaimed-monies framework, new APRA supervisory powers, and a rule-making power to mandate a revised ePayments Code - the instrument already central to this cycle's HSBC Australia scam-liability judgment (see Legal & Litigation).
For non-bank PIs and EMIs, the trust-account segregation requirement is a direct capital and operational-structure determinant, since it fixes how customer funds must be held relative to a bank counterparty rather than leaving safeguarding to commercial discretion.
Outlook
Expect Tranche 1b detail to firm up alongside Tranche 1a commencement planning; the mandatory-ePayments-Code rule-making power is the item most likely to generate near-term secondary consultation, given its direct link to the scam-liability standard already being set through enforcement.
Read the full sub-brief
Conduct, Safeguarding & Promotions
Tranche 1b of the payments modernisation reform delivers the customer-protection detail underneath the new licensing perimeter. Safeguarding is modelled on the Corporations Act client-money regime, adjusted for payments: the primary method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods available as alternatives, and ASIC-regulated and APRA-regulated entities will operate under separate safeguarding frameworks. A significant conduct change accompanies this: the sophisticated-investor exemption is removed for stored-value facilities, payment instruments and payment services, meaning internal- and external-dispute-resolution obligations (including AFCA membership) now extend even to wholesale dealings that were previously exempt. Tranche 1b also delivers an unclaimed-monies framework, new APRA supervisory powers, and a rule-making power to mandate a revised ePayments Code - the instrument already central to this cycle's HSBC Australia scam-liability judgment (see Legal & Litigation).
For non-bank PIs and EMIs, the trust-account segregation requirement is a direct capital and operational-structure determinant, since it fixes how customer funds must be held relative to a bank counterparty rather than leaving safeguarding to commercial discretion.
Outlook
Expect Tranche 1b detail to firm up alongside Tranche 1a commencement planning; the mandatory-ePayments-Code rule-making power is the item most likely to generate near-term secondary consultation, given its direct link to the scam-liability standard already being set through enforcement.
Conduct of payment services sits under the AFSL regime (s912A Corporations Act: efficient, honest and fair; adequate resources; dispute resolution; AFCA membership for retail). Safeguarding under the modernisation reforms is based on the Corporations Act client-money regime, adjusted for payments: the primary method is segregation of payment-related money in a separate trust account with an Australian ADI, with insurance or other prescribed methods as alternatives. The reforms remove the sophisticated-investor exemption for SVFs/payment instruments/payment services, so even wholesale dealings carry baseline obligations (IDR; AFCA where retail). Financial-promotion conduct around payments/crypto is supervised by ASIC; safeguarding/conduct detail (incl. unclaimed money, APRA powers, mandatory ePayments Code power) is being delivered via Tranche 1b.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Australia is moving payment stablecoins into the SVF/digital-money framework rather than a bespoke EMT/ART regime. Under Treasury's draft, payment stablecoins (stable value vs fiat, fully backed by cash/cash-equivalents) are to be regulated as 'payment stablecoin SVFs' / tokenised SVFs, more readily treated as electronic cash, departing from ASIC's prior treatment of stablecoins as NCPFs (ASIC CP 381, Dec 2024). Tokenised SVF providers face additional requirements: monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights, and disclosure of adverse changes/events. Yield-bearing stablecoins remain financial products under separate treatment. A parallel digital-asset/tokenised-custody-platform exposure draft (released 25 Sep 2025) interlocks via shared 'digital token' definitions. The RBA's research (Project Acacia) tested stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC as settlement assets.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Prudential Standards & Capital Requirements
No material W2-specific prudential standards or capital-requirements developments were identified for Australia this cycle beyond the APRA SVF oversight threshold noted under W1a. The APRA streamlined registration pathway for SVF operators crossing approximately A$200 million in aggregate stored value is the primary prudential-layer development this cycle and is covered in full under W1a.
Outlook
APRA's detailed prudential standards for registered SVF operators and designated payment-facilitation-service providers will be a key second-order development once the Tranche 1 licensing package passes Parliament. No timeline for APRA consultation on those standards has been confirmed this cycle.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Stablecoins & Digital Money
Australia is charting a distinctive path for payment stablecoins: rather than a bespoke EMT/ART-style regime, Treasury's draft regulates them as "payment stablecoin SVFs" - tokenised stored-value facilities - provided they maintain stable value against fiat and are fully backed by cash or cash-equivalents, more readily treating them as electronic cash than under ASIC's prior non-cash-payment-facility approach set out in Consultation Paper 381 of December 2024. Tokenised SVF providers will face monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights and adverse-event disclosure; yield-bearing stablecoins remain financial products under the existing regime, preserving a bright line between payment-use and investment-use tokens.
On the wholesale side, the RBA's Project Acacia concluded that interoperable private tokenised money - stablecoins or tokenised commercial bank deposits - can support asset tokenisation, while central bank money retains a foundational role and many benefits can already be realised using existing Exchange Settlement Account balances, tempering expectations that a general-purpose wholesale CBDC is required to unlock tokenised-asset settlement.
Outlook
Watch for how the tokenised-SVF stablecoin framework interacts with the separate digital-asset and tokenised-custody-platform exposure draft, and for Project Acacia follow-on work (a possible regulatory sandbox, tokenised government bond initiative and Deposit Token Working Group) to further define the settlement-asset landscape for tokenised money in Australia.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Stablecoins & Digital Money
Australia is charting a distinctive path for payment stablecoins: rather than a bespoke EMT/ART-style regime, Treasury's draft regulates them as "payment stablecoin SVFs" - tokenised stored-value facilities - provided they maintain stable value against fiat and are fully backed by cash or cash-equivalents, more readily treating them as electronic cash than under ASIC's prior non-cash-payment-facility approach set out in Consultation Paper 381 of December 2024. Tokenised SVF providers will face monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights and adverse-event disclosure; yield-bearing stablecoins remain financial products under the existing regime, preserving a bright line between payment-use and investment-use tokens.
On the wholesale side, the RBA's Project Acacia concluded that interoperable private tokenised money - stablecoins or tokenised commercial bank deposits - can support asset tokenisation, while central bank money retains a foundational role and many benefits can already be realised using existing Exchange Settlement Account balances, tempering expectations that a general-purpose wholesale CBDC is required to unlock tokenised-asset settlement.
Outlook
Watch for how the tokenised-SVF stablecoin framework interacts with the separate digital-asset and tokenised-custody-platform exposure draft, and for Project Acacia follow-on work (a possible regulatory sandbox, tokenised government bond initiative and Deposit Token Working Group) to further define the settlement-asset landscape for tokenised money in Australia.
Read the full sub-brief
Stablecoins & Digital Money
Australia is charting a distinctive path for payment stablecoins: rather than a bespoke EMT/ART-style regime, Treasury's draft regulates them as "payment stablecoin SVFs" - tokenised stored-value facilities - provided they maintain stable value against fiat and are fully backed by cash or cash-equivalents, more readily treating them as electronic cash than under ASIC's prior non-cash-payment-facility approach set out in Consultation Paper 381 of December 2024. Tokenised SVF providers will face monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights and adverse-event disclosure; yield-bearing stablecoins remain financial products under the existing regime, preserving a bright line between payment-use and investment-use tokens.
On the wholesale side, the RBA's Project Acacia concluded that interoperable private tokenised money - stablecoins or tokenised commercial bank deposits - can support asset tokenisation, while central bank money retains a foundational role and many benefits can already be realised using existing Exchange Settlement Account balances, tempering expectations that a general-purpose wholesale CBDC is required to unlock tokenised-asset settlement.
Outlook
Watch for how the tokenised-SVF stablecoin framework interacts with the separate digital-asset and tokenised-custody-platform exposure draft, and for Project Acacia follow-on work (a possible regulatory sandbox, tokenised government bond initiative and Deposit Token Working Group) to further define the settlement-asset landscape for tokenised money in Australia.
Australia is moving payment stablecoins into the SVF/digital-money framework rather than a bespoke EMT/ART regime. Under Treasury's draft, payment stablecoins (stable value vs fiat, fully backed by cash/cash-equivalents) are to be regulated as 'payment stablecoin SVFs' / tokenised SVFs, more readily treated as electronic cash, departing from ASIC's prior treatment of stablecoins as NCPFs (ASIC CP 381, Dec 2024). Tokenised SVF providers face additional requirements: monthly reserve disclosures, guaranteed redemption rights, and disclosure of adverse changes/events. Yield-bearing stablecoins remain financial products under separate treatment. A parallel digital-asset/tokenised-custody-platform exposure draft (released 25 Sep 2025) interlocks via shared 'digital token' definitions. The RBA's research (Project Acacia) tested stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC as settlement assets.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
W3ConfirmedOperational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
see this theme across all jurisdictions →4 claimsOperational resilience for APRA-regulated entities (incl. ADIs/banks providing payments) is governed by Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management, in force 1 July 2025, replacing CPS 231 (Outsourcing) and CPS 232 (Business Continuity Management). CPS 230 requires identification/management of operational risks, maintenance of critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions (credible BCP), and management of material service-provider risk (MSP register, formal agreements, monitoring). For pre-existing service-provider contracts, requirements apply from the earlier of next renewal or 1 July 2026. Payments are an example of a core operation APRA expects to be classified 'critical'. APRA finalised targeted amendments (30 April 2026) giving limited contractual-requirement exemptions for non-traditional service providers (central banks, clearing/settlement facilities, payment systems/schemes, financial messaging infrastructures). Conduct-side cyber resilience is enforced by ASIC under s912A (see W7).
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Consumer Protection & Dispute Resolution
No standalone W3 consumer-protection or dispute-resolution developments were identified for Australia this cycle. The mandatory revised ePayments Code, which will be introduced via a new rule-making power under the Payments Systems Modernisation reforms, has a consumer-protection dimension and is noted under W1b. The card-surcharge ban (W8) also carries a direct consumer-benefit rationale.
Outlook
The revised ePayments Code will be a W3-relevant development once its content is consulted on and finalised. The RBA's mid-2026 consultation on mobile wallets, BNPL, and e-commerce platforms (W9) may also surface consumer-protection questions relevant to this module.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management commenced 1 July 2025, replacing the former outsourcing standard (CPS 231) and business-continuity standard (CPS 232). It requires APRA-regulated entities - including ADIs/banks providing payments - to manage operational risks, maintain critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions, and manage material service-provider risk through a formal register and agreements. For pre-existing service-provider contracts, the full requirements apply from the earlier of the contract's next renewal or 1 July 2026, and payments are expected to be classified a "critical" operation, making this a bank-side resilience obligation with direct payments relevance.
On 30 April 2026, APRA finalised targeted amendments to CPS 230 introducing a limited exemption from specific contractual requirements for material arrangements with non-traditional service providers - central banks, clearing and settlement facilities, payment systems/schemes and financial messaging infrastructures - recognising that standard commercial-contract terms are often unworkable with such counterparties.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 deadline for pre-existing contracts is the near-term compliance event to watch; expect continued clarification of how the non-traditional-service-provider exemption applies in practice to payment-system and FMI relationships.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management commenced 1 July 2025, replacing the former outsourcing standard (CPS 231) and business-continuity standard (CPS 232). It requires APRA-regulated entities - including ADIs/banks providing payments - to manage operational risks, maintain critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions, and manage material service-provider risk through a formal register and agreements. For pre-existing service-provider contracts, the full requirements apply from the earlier of the contract's next renewal or 1 July 2026, and payments are expected to be classified a "critical" operation, making this a bank-side resilience obligation with direct payments relevance.
On 30 April 2026, APRA finalised targeted amendments to CPS 230 introducing a limited exemption from specific contractual requirements for material arrangements with non-traditional service providers - central banks, clearing and settlement facilities, payment systems/schemes and financial messaging infrastructures - recognising that standard commercial-contract terms are often unworkable with such counterparties.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 deadline for pre-existing contracts is the near-term compliance event to watch; expect continued clarification of how the non-traditional-service-provider exemption applies in practice to payment-system and FMI relationships.
Read the full sub-brief
Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management commenced 1 July 2025, replacing the former outsourcing standard (CPS 231) and business-continuity standard (CPS 232). It requires APRA-regulated entities - including ADIs/banks providing payments - to manage operational risks, maintain critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions, and manage material service-provider risk through a formal register and agreements. For pre-existing service-provider contracts, the full requirements apply from the earlier of the contract's next renewal or 1 July 2026, and payments are expected to be classified a "critical" operation, making this a bank-side resilience obligation with direct payments relevance.
On 30 April 2026, APRA finalised targeted amendments to CPS 230 introducing a limited exemption from specific contractual requirements for material arrangements with non-traditional service providers - central banks, clearing and settlement facilities, payment systems/schemes and financial messaging infrastructures - recognising that standard commercial-contract terms are often unworkable with such counterparties.
Outlook
The 1 July 2026 deadline for pre-existing contracts is the near-term compliance event to watch; expect continued clarification of how the non-traditional-service-provider exemption applies in practice to payment-system and FMI relationships.
Operational resilience for APRA-regulated entities (incl. ADIs/banks providing payments) is governed by Prudential Standard CPS 230 Operational Risk Management, in force 1 July 2025, replacing CPS 231 (Outsourcing) and CPS 232 (Business Continuity Management). CPS 230 requires identification/management of operational risks, maintenance of critical operations within impact tolerances through severe disruptions (credible BCP), and management of material service-provider risk (MSP register, formal agreements, monitoring). For pre-existing service-provider contracts, requirements apply from the earlier of next renewal or 1 July 2026. Payments are an example of a core operation APRA expects to be classified 'critical'. APRA finalised targeted amendments (30 April 2026) giving limited contractual-requirement exemptions for non-traditional service providers (central banks, clearing/settlement facilities, payment systems/schemes, financial messaging infrastructures). Conduct-side cyber resilience is enforced by ASIC under s912A (see W7).
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Australia's principal payment corridors run via SWIFT correspondent banking for cross-border transfers, with growing use of non-bank international money transfer (IMT) providers (e.g., Wise, Airwallex). The RBA assesses Australia as partially meeting G20 Roadmap cost targets: major-bank IMTs (~4% to advanced economies, ~6% to developing) sit above G20 ceilings, while non-bank IMTs to developing countries (~2%) are below target. Australia is below the G20 speed target (75% within one hour), partly due to timezone factors. Key inclusion-focused corridor: South Pacific remittances, where correspondent-banking de-risking and concentration (single bank serving multiple MTOs) create fragile AUD/NZD connectivity (IMF/AUSTRAC analysis). Australian major banks (ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac) joined SWIFT's new retail cross-border framework (Australia among initial corridors, go-live by end-June 2026). The RBA is exploring NPP/fast-payment interlinking and wholesale cross-border enhancements in 2026.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Payment Corridor Dynamics
AusPayNet's Account-to-Account Roundtable was tracking a further update on New Payments Platform migration risks around March 2026, covering 24/7 real-time payments, confirmation of payee, and real-time payment verification. This item is at dashboard level this cycle — it signals ongoing industry-level engagement with NPP migration risks rather than a concluded regulatory or scheme-rule change. The confirmation-of-payee and real-time payment-verification components are the operationally significant elements, as they bear on fraud-risk management in the A2A migration context.
Outlook
The NPP migration risk assessment is a standing tracker item. Further updates from AusPayNet are expected as the migration progresses. The W5 surface for Australia is stable this cycle with no escalating developments.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Payment Corridor Dynamics
Per the RBA's February 2026 Bulletin, transferring A$1,000 via major banks' international money-transfer services cost around 4% to advanced countries and 6% to developing countries in September 2025 - above the G20 ceilings of 3% and 5% respectively - while non-bank IMT costs to developing countries, at around 2%, beat the target. Australia also remains well below the G20's speed target of settling 75% of transfers within one hour, partly attributable to timezone factors; banks are working to enhance domestic legs, including 24/7 capability and leveraging the New Payments Platform.
The Australia-Pacific remittance corridor illustrates an under-covered inclusion risk: fragile connectivity and concentration risk, with a single bank in some cases providing correspondent services to several money-transfer operators, driven by reduced bank risk appetite and rising AML/CFT compliance costs, per IMF and AUSTRAC analysis. Australia is among the initial corridors in SWIFT's new retail cross-border payments framework, with more than 25 banks - including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac - going live by end-June 2026 to deliver cost certainty, full-value delivery and traceability.
Outlook
Watch for the SWIFT retail framework go-live by end-June 2026 and for whether bank IMT pricing to developing countries narrows toward the G20 ceiling; the Pacific corridor's concentration risk remains a standing fragility to monitor.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Payment Corridor Dynamics
Per the RBA's February 2026 Bulletin, transferring A$1,000 via major banks' international money-transfer services cost around 4% to advanced countries and 6% to developing countries in September 2025 - above the G20 ceilings of 3% and 5% respectively - while non-bank IMT costs to developing countries, at around 2%, beat the target. Australia also remains well below the G20's speed target of settling 75% of transfers within one hour, partly attributable to timezone factors; banks are working to enhance domestic legs, including 24/7 capability and leveraging the New Payments Platform.
The Australia-Pacific remittance corridor illustrates an under-covered inclusion risk: fragile connectivity and concentration risk, with a single bank in some cases providing correspondent services to several money-transfer operators, driven by reduced bank risk appetite and rising AML/CFT compliance costs, per IMF and AUSTRAC analysis. Australia is among the initial corridors in SWIFT's new retail cross-border payments framework, with more than 25 banks - including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac - going live by end-June 2026 to deliver cost certainty, full-value delivery and traceability.
Outlook
Watch for the SWIFT retail framework go-live by end-June 2026 and for whether bank IMT pricing to developing countries narrows toward the G20 ceiling; the Pacific corridor's concentration risk remains a standing fragility to monitor.
Read the full sub-brief
Payment Corridor Dynamics
Per the RBA's February 2026 Bulletin, transferring A$1,000 via major banks' international money-transfer services cost around 4% to advanced countries and 6% to developing countries in September 2025 - above the G20 ceilings of 3% and 5% respectively - while non-bank IMT costs to developing countries, at around 2%, beat the target. Australia also remains well below the G20's speed target of settling 75% of transfers within one hour, partly attributable to timezone factors; banks are working to enhance domestic legs, including 24/7 capability and leveraging the New Payments Platform.
The Australia-Pacific remittance corridor illustrates an under-covered inclusion risk: fragile connectivity and concentration risk, with a single bank in some cases providing correspondent services to several money-transfer operators, driven by reduced bank risk appetite and rising AML/CFT compliance costs, per IMF and AUSTRAC analysis. Australia is among the initial corridors in SWIFT's new retail cross-border payments framework, with more than 25 banks - including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac - going live by end-June 2026 to deliver cost certainty, full-value delivery and traceability.
Outlook
Watch for the SWIFT retail framework go-live by end-June 2026 and for whether bank IMT pricing to developing countries narrows toward the G20 ceiling; the Pacific corridor's concentration risk remains a standing fragility to monitor.
Australia's principal payment corridors run via SWIFT correspondent banking for cross-border transfers, with growing use of non-bank international money transfer (IMT) providers (e.g., Wise, Airwallex). The RBA assesses Australia as partially meeting G20 Roadmap cost targets: major-bank IMTs (~4% to advanced economies, ~6% to developing) sit above G20 ceilings, while non-bank IMTs to developing countries (~2%) are below target. Australia is below the G20 speed target (75% within one hour), partly due to timezone factors. Key inclusion-focused corridor: South Pacific remittances, where correspondent-banking de-risking and concentration (single bank serving multiple MTOs) create fragile AUD/NZD connectivity (IMF/AUSTRAC analysis). Australian major banks (ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac) joined SWIFT's new retail cross-border framework (Australia among initial corridors, go-live by end-June 2026). The RBA is exploring NPP/fast-payment interlinking and wholesale cross-border enhancements in 2026.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Australia's payments market is bank-dominated at the rails layer (four major banks: ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac) but with a vibrant fintech/non-bank PSP layer. Payments is the most mature fintech segment (~150+ active firms, ~20% of the fintech landscape). Domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus (AP+), which operates the NPP, eftpos and BPAY. Key non-bank/listed players include Tyro (ASX:TYR), Cuscal (ASX:CCL), Zip, EML Payments, Change Financial and Novatti; private/scale-ups include Airwallex (US$6.2bn valuation) and Zeller (100k+ merchants). Block's 2022 takeover of Afterpay illustrated global appetite for domestic distribution. Consolidation among payment specialists is accelerating (e.g., Banking Circle's January 2025 acquisition of Australian Settlements Limited for real-time clearing). NPP volumes exceed 100 million/month with roughly one in three account transfers riding the network.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Market Structure & Competition
No standalone W6 market-structure or competition developments were identified for Australia this cycle. The tripartite ASIC/APRA/RBA regulatory architecture established by the Tranche 1 reforms has structural market-competition implications — particularly the sequencing of licensing reform ahead of ESA access reform — but these are covered under W1a and W12 respectively.
Outlook
The RBA's mid-2026 consultation on mobile wallets, three-party card networks, BNPL, and e-commerce platforms (W9) will have market-structure implications if it leads to regulatory intervention in those segments. The ESA access review (W12) is the most significant structural market-access question on the horizon.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Industry Structure & Commercial
Australia's payments market is bank-dominated at the rails layer - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac remain the four major banks - alongside a vibrant fintech and non-bank PSP layer of more than 150 active firms, representing roughly a fifth of the broader fintech landscape. Domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus, which operates the New Payments Platform, eftpos and BPAY; NPP volumes exceed 100 million transactions a month, about one in three account transfers. Key listed and scaled non-bank players include Tyro, Cuscal, Zip, EML Payments, Change Financial and Novatti, alongside private scale-ups such as Airwallex and Zeller.
Outlook
The structural picture - bank-controlled rails, non-bank innovation layer, consolidated shared infrastructure - forms the backdrop against which the AFSL licensing perimeter, Common Access Requirements and surcharging reforms will play out; consolidation among listed and private non-bank PSPs is likely to continue (see Commercial Intelligence).
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Industry Structure & Commercial
Australia's payments market is bank-dominated at the rails layer - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac remain the four major banks - alongside a vibrant fintech and non-bank PSP layer of more than 150 active firms, representing roughly a fifth of the broader fintech landscape. Domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus, which operates the New Payments Platform, eftpos and BPAY; NPP volumes exceed 100 million transactions a month, about one in three account transfers. Key listed and scaled non-bank players include Tyro, Cuscal, Zip, EML Payments, Change Financial and Novatti, alongside private scale-ups such as Airwallex and Zeller.
Outlook
The structural picture - bank-controlled rails, non-bank innovation layer, consolidated shared infrastructure - forms the backdrop against which the AFSL licensing perimeter, Common Access Requirements and surcharging reforms will play out; consolidation among listed and private non-bank PSPs is likely to continue (see Commercial Intelligence).
Read the full sub-brief
Industry Structure & Commercial
Australia's payments market is bank-dominated at the rails layer - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac remain the four major banks - alongside a vibrant fintech and non-bank PSP layer of more than 150 active firms, representing roughly a fifth of the broader fintech landscape. Domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus, which operates the New Payments Platform, eftpos and BPAY; NPP volumes exceed 100 million transactions a month, about one in three account transfers. Key listed and scaled non-bank players include Tyro, Cuscal, Zip, EML Payments, Change Financial and Novatti, alongside private scale-ups such as Airwallex and Zeller.
Outlook
The structural picture - bank-controlled rails, non-bank innovation layer, consolidated shared infrastructure - forms the backdrop against which the AFSL licensing perimeter, Common Access Requirements and surcharging reforms will play out; consolidation among listed and private non-bank PSPs is likely to continue (see Commercial Intelligence).
Australia's payments market is bank-dominated at the rails layer (four major banks: ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac) but with a vibrant fintech/non-bank PSP layer. Payments is the most mature fintech segment (~150+ active firms, ~20% of the fintech landscape). Domestic shared infrastructure is consolidated under Australian Payments Plus (AP+), which operates the NPP, eftpos and BPAY. Key non-bank/listed players include Tyro (ASX:TYR), Cuscal (ASX:CCL), Zip, EML Payments, Change Financial and Novatti; private/scale-ups include Airwallex (US$6.2bn valuation) and Zeller (100k+ merchants). Block's 2022 takeover of Afterpay illustrated global appetite for domestic distribution. Consolidation among payment specialists is accelerating (e.g., Banking Circle's January 2025 acquisition of Australian Settlements Limited for real-time clearing). NPP volumes exceed 100 million/month with roughly one in three account transfers riding the network.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
ASIC is highly active in payments-adjacent enforcement, securing a record A$349.8m in court-ordered civil penalties in H2 2025. Landmark matters include: the HSBC Australia scam-controls case (Federal Court ordered A$35m on 18 June 2026 - one of the first globally - for inadequate internal-transfer controls, slow (144-day average) scam investigations and systemic ePayments Code failures); the FIIG Securities case (A$2.5m, 9 Feb 2026 - first civil penalty for cybersecurity failures under general AFSL s912A obligations), following RI Advice (2022) and ongoing Fortnum Private Wealth proceedings (filed July 2025); and the BPS Financial/Qoin crypto case (A$14m total: A$2m unlicensed conduct + A$12m misleading/deceptive conduct, after ASIC's Full Court appeal win 30 May 2025). ASIC also obtained A$250m combined penalties against ANZ (Dec 2025) including hardship and false-rate failures. These set a clear 'scam controls + cyber resilience = licence-to-operate' expectation.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Digital Currency & Tokenisation
No standalone W7 CBDC or tokenisation developments were identified for Australia this cycle. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2025 (W1b) is the primary digital-asset regulatory development this cycle; its commencement on 8 April 2027 will embed digital-asset licensing concepts within the AFSL framework, which has indirect relevance to tokenised-asset and stablecoin operators.
Outlook
The Digital Assets Framework Act commencement in April 2027 is the primary W7-adjacent horizon item. No RBA CBDC consultation or pilot development was identified this cycle.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Legal & Litigation
The Federal Court ordered HSBC Australia to pay A$35 million on 18 June 2026 for scam-protection failures - one of the first such cases globally - with the judge finding its ePayments Code failures systemic and widespread and its average scam-report investigation time of 144 days inadequate; the judgment sets a "scam controls = licence-to-operate" expectation and forms part of ASIC's record A$349.8 million in penalties across the second half of 2025. FIIG Securities was ordered on 9 February 2026 to pay A$2.5 million - the first time the Federal Court has imposed civil penalties for cyber-security failures under general AFS licensee obligations (section 912A) - following a 2023 attack that exfiltrated approximately 385 gigabytes of client data, and follows the RI Advice case of 2022 and ongoing Fortnum Private Wealth proceedings filed in July 2025. BPS Financial, operator of the Qoin crypto-token product, faced A$14 million in penalties after ASIC's Full Court appeal win of 30 May 2025 - A$2 million for unlicensed conduct and A$12 million for misleading and deceptive conduct - with ASIC signalling continued focus on the digital-asset industry.
Outlook
Cyber resilience and scam controls are now established conduct obligations with direct financial consequence; expect continued enforcement activity as the ePayments Code, CPS 230 and the incoming AFSL perimeter combine to raise the compliance bar for both bank and non-bank payment providers.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Legal & Litigation
The Federal Court ordered HSBC Australia to pay A$35 million on 18 June 2026 for scam-protection failures - one of the first such cases globally - with the judge finding its ePayments Code failures systemic and widespread and its average scam-report investigation time of 144 days inadequate; the judgment sets a "scam controls = licence-to-operate" expectation and forms part of ASIC's record A$349.8 million in penalties across the second half of 2025. FIIG Securities was ordered on 9 February 2026 to pay A$2.5 million - the first time the Federal Court has imposed civil penalties for cyber-security failures under general AFS licensee obligations (section 912A) - following a 2023 attack that exfiltrated approximately 385 gigabytes of client data, and follows the RI Advice case of 2022 and ongoing Fortnum Private Wealth proceedings filed in July 2025. BPS Financial, operator of the Qoin crypto-token product, faced A$14 million in penalties after ASIC's Full Court appeal win of 30 May 2025 - A$2 million for unlicensed conduct and A$12 million for misleading and deceptive conduct - with ASIC signalling continued focus on the digital-asset industry.
Outlook
Cyber resilience and scam controls are now established conduct obligations with direct financial consequence; expect continued enforcement activity as the ePayments Code, CPS 230 and the incoming AFSL perimeter combine to raise the compliance bar for both bank and non-bank payment providers.
Read the full sub-brief
Legal & Litigation
The Federal Court ordered HSBC Australia to pay A$35 million on 18 June 2026 for scam-protection failures - one of the first such cases globally - with the judge finding its ePayments Code failures systemic and widespread and its average scam-report investigation time of 144 days inadequate; the judgment sets a "scam controls = licence-to-operate" expectation and forms part of ASIC's record A$349.8 million in penalties across the second half of 2025. FIIG Securities was ordered on 9 February 2026 to pay A$2.5 million - the first time the Federal Court has imposed civil penalties for cyber-security failures under general AFS licensee obligations (section 912A) - following a 2023 attack that exfiltrated approximately 385 gigabytes of client data, and follows the RI Advice case of 2022 and ongoing Fortnum Private Wealth proceedings filed in July 2025. BPS Financial, operator of the Qoin crypto-token product, faced A$14 million in penalties after ASIC's Full Court appeal win of 30 May 2025 - A$2 million for unlicensed conduct and A$12 million for misleading and deceptive conduct - with ASIC signalling continued focus on the digital-asset industry.
Outlook
Cyber resilience and scam controls are now established conduct obligations with direct financial consequence; expect continued enforcement activity as the ePayments Code, CPS 230 and the incoming AFSL perimeter combine to raise the compliance bar for both bank and non-bank payment providers.
ASIC is highly active in payments-adjacent enforcement, securing a record A$349.8m in court-ordered civil penalties in H2 2025. Landmark matters include: the HSBC Australia scam-controls case (Federal Court ordered A$35m on 18 June 2026 - one of the first globally - for inadequate internal-transfer controls, slow (144-day average) scam investigations and systemic ePayments Code failures); the FIIG Securities case (A$2.5m, 9 Feb 2026 - first civil penalty for cybersecurity failures under general AFSL s912A obligations), following RI Advice (2022) and ongoing Fortnum Private Wealth proceedings (filed July 2025); and the BPS Financial/Qoin crypto case (A$14m total: A$2m unlicensed conduct + A$12m misleading/deceptive conduct, after ASIC's Full Court appeal win 30 May 2025). ASIC also obtained A$250m combined penalties against ANZ (Dec 2025) including hardship and false-rate failures. These set a clear 'scam controls + cyber resilience = licence-to-operate' expectation.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Merchant acquiring in Australia operates through bank acquirers (CBA, NAB, Westpac, ANZ) and non-bank players (Tyro, Zeller, Square/Block, Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay). Acquirers are subject to RBA card-payments standards (interchange, surcharging, access regimes) and PCI DSS. Surcharging is currently permitted up to cost-of-acceptance (ACCC-enforced) but the RBA has decided to remove surcharging on designated networks; ~16% of merchants currently surcharge designated cards (~A$1.6bn paid by consumers, ~A$0.2bn by businesses). Acquiring/onboarding will be brought into the AFSL perimeter under the payments modernisation reforms (merchant acquirers explicitly named as Payment Facilitation Service providers requiring an AFSL or authorised-representative status). Pricing transparency reforms will require large acquirers to publish fees. Typical acquiring economics: e.g., Zeller charges ~1.4% per in-person tap/insert transaction.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Merchant Acquiring & Risk
The RBA's Conclusions Paper on its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging confirms two high-impact changes to card-payment economics in Australia, both of which carry direct operational implications for acquirers, payment facilitators, and merchants.
The first and most immediate change is the removal of surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa debit, prepaid, and credit transactions from 1 October 2026. This is a hard operational deadline: from that date, merchants may not impose a surcharge on any of these card types. The enforcement mechanism is notable. The surcharge ban is implemented via card-network merchant-agreement rules rather than through direct RBA or ACCC enforcement action. The ACCC continues enforcing the existing cost-recovery framework — under which merchants may only surcharge up to their reasonable cost of acceptance — until 1 October 2026. After that date, the prohibition is embedded in scheme rules, meaning that acquirers and payment facilitators bear the primary compliance responsibility through their merchant agreements. Merchants that continue to surcharge after 1 October 2026 will be in breach of their merchant agreements with their acquirer, not directly in breach of a regulatory instrument.
This implementation architecture has several analytical implications. First, it places the compliance burden on the acquirer-merchant relationship rather than on a direct regulatory enforcement channel, which means acquirers and payment facilitators must update their merchant agreements, terminal configurations, and merchant-facing communications ahead of the deadline. Second, it means that enforcement will initially be scheme-driven rather than regulator-driven, which may affect the speed and consistency of compliance across the merchant base. Third, it creates a potential gap between the formal prohibition date and the practical elimination of surcharging, particularly for merchants using legacy point-of-sale systems that require software updates.
The second change is the reduction of the domestic interchange fee cap from 0.8% to 0.3%, accompanied by a new foreign-card interchange cap of 1% — down from as high as 2.4% — and additional cost-transparency measures, all commencing 1 April 2027. The domestic cap reduction is a significant compression of the interchange economics that underpin card-issuer revenue and, indirectly, rewards programmes. The foreign-card cap is a new instrument targeting the premium interchange rates that international card schemes have historically charged for foreign-issued cards used in Australia; the reduction from up to 2.4% to 1% is a substantial cut that will affect the economics of inbound tourism and cross-border e-commerce transactions.
The RBA estimates that the combined package will deliver up to A$1.8 billion per year in total consumer and business savings, including approximately A$910 million in reduced merchant service fees. These are assessed estimates rather than confirmed outcomes, and the distribution of savings between consumers and businesses will depend on how merchants pass through the reduced acceptance costs.
The bank versus non-bank distinction is relevant here primarily at the acquirer level. Both bank-owned acquirers and non-bank payment institutions operating as acquirers or payment facilitators are subject to the scheme-rule changes. The interchange-cap changes affect card issuers — predominantly ADIs — more directly than acquirers.
Outlook
The 1 October 2026 surcharge-ban deadline is the immediate operational priority for acquirers and payment facilitators. The 1 April 2027 interchange and cost-transparency changes require a longer lead time for issuers to model the revenue impact and adjust product economics. The RBA's mid-2026 consultation on mobile wallets, three-party card networks, BNPL, and e-commerce platforms (W9) may extend the reform logic into adjacent acquiring and acceptance contexts.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Merchant Acquiring & Risk
Independent estimates indicate roughly 16% of merchants surcharged designated network card payments, with about A$1.6 billion paid by consumers and A$0.2 billion by businesses; the RBA's decision to remove surcharging on designated networks redistributes this cost across the merchant-acquirer-scheme chain. At the same time, merchant acquirers, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers will be brought into the AFSL regime as Payment Facilitation Service providers, and large acquirers will be required to publish their fees - a transparency reform that directly affects acquirer pricing and competitive positioning (illustratively, Zeller currently charges around 1.4% per in-person tap/insert transaction).
Outlook
The dual reset of surcharging economics and acquirer licensing status is likely to compress margins for smaller acquirers while favouring scaled, AFSL-ready platforms; fee-transparency obligations for large acquirers are the near-term item to track.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Merchant Acquiring & Risk
Independent estimates indicate roughly 16% of merchants surcharged designated network card payments, with about A$1.6 billion paid by consumers and A$0.2 billion by businesses; the RBA's decision to remove surcharging on designated networks redistributes this cost across the merchant-acquirer-scheme chain. At the same time, merchant acquirers, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers will be brought into the AFSL regime as Payment Facilitation Service providers, and large acquirers will be required to publish their fees - a transparency reform that directly affects acquirer pricing and competitive positioning (illustratively, Zeller currently charges around 1.4% per in-person tap/insert transaction).
Outlook
The dual reset of surcharging economics and acquirer licensing status is likely to compress margins for smaller acquirers while favouring scaled, AFSL-ready platforms; fee-transparency obligations for large acquirers are the near-term item to track.
Read the full sub-brief
Merchant Acquiring & Risk
Independent estimates indicate roughly 16% of merchants surcharged designated network card payments, with about A$1.6 billion paid by consumers and A$0.2 billion by businesses; the RBA's decision to remove surcharging on designated networks redistributes this cost across the merchant-acquirer-scheme chain. At the same time, merchant acquirers, payment facilitators and point-of-sale technology providers will be brought into the AFSL regime as Payment Facilitation Service providers, and large acquirers will be required to publish their fees - a transparency reform that directly affects acquirer pricing and competitive positioning (illustratively, Zeller currently charges around 1.4% per in-person tap/insert transaction).
Outlook
The dual reset of surcharging economics and acquirer licensing status is likely to compress margins for smaller acquirers while favouring scaled, AFSL-ready platforms; fee-transparency obligations for large acquirers are the near-term item to track.
Merchant acquiring in Australia operates through bank acquirers (CBA, NAB, Westpac, ANZ) and non-bank players (Tyro, Zeller, Square/Block, Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay). Acquirers are subject to RBA card-payments standards (interchange, surcharging, access regimes) and PCI DSS. Surcharging is currently permitted up to cost-of-acceptance (ACCC-enforced) but the RBA has decided to remove surcharging on designated networks; ~16% of merchants currently surcharge designated cards (~A$1.6bn paid by consumers, ~A$0.2bn by businesses). Acquiring/onboarding will be brought into the AFSL perimeter under the payments modernisation reforms (merchant acquirers explicitly named as Payment Facilitation Service providers requiring an AFSL or authorised-representative status). Pricing transparency reforms will require large acquirers to publish fees. Typical acquiring economics: e.g., Zeller charges ~1.4% per in-person tap/insert transaction.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Australia's domestic real-time rail is the New Payments Platform (NPP, run by Australian Payments Plus), with PayID (addressing) and PayTo (a digital-first alternative to direct debit, mandated authorisations) as headline products; monthly NPP volumes exceed 100 million with ~one in three account transfers on the network, and migration of account-to-account payments to the NPP is intended over the medium term. The RBA/DFCRC's Project Acacia (Phase 2, 2025-26) tested 24 use cases across stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC, issuing pilot wCBDC directly onto third-party DLT platforms (a world-first) with ASIC regulatory relief; the Final Report (19 May 2026) found strong tokenisation potential and launched follow-on work (possible regulatory sandbox, tokenised government bond initiative, Deposit Token Working Group). BNPL was brought under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (credit licence required from 10 June 2025). Open banking under the Consumer Data Right continues to build out action-initiation linkages to payments.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Product Innovation & Market Development
The Reserve Bank of Australia has flagged a mid-2026 public consultation to assess the public-interest case for regulating retail-payments areas outside the current review. The areas identified include mobile wallets, three-party card networks, BNPL services, and e-commerce platforms. This item is at dashboard level this cycle — it is a confirmed signal of regulatory intent rather than a concluded reform. The RBA's framing of the consultation as assessing the "public-interest case" for regulation suggests that the outcome is not predetermined; the consultation may conclude that some or all of these areas do not require regulatory intervention at this stage.
The significance of this item lies in its scope. Mobile wallets, three-party card networks, BNPL, and e-commerce platforms together cover a substantial portion of the non-bank payment-product landscape that has historically operated outside the formal payments-regulation perimeter. If the RBA concludes that regulation is warranted in any of these areas, the resulting reforms would extend the perimeter established by the Tranche 1 licensing package into product categories that are currently unregulated or lightly regulated.
Outlook
The mid-2026 consultation is expected to launch in Q3 2026. Given the RBA's stated uncertainty band of half a year, the consultation could slip into H2 2026. The outcome of the consultation will determine whether W9 becomes an escalating module in future cycles.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Product Innovation & Market Development
The RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre's Project Acacia (Phase 2, 2025-26) tested 24 use cases spanning stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC. Its Final Report, published 19 May 2026, issued a pilot wholesale CBDC directly onto third-party distributed-ledger platforms - a world-first, with total issuance of A$4.4 million - under ASIC regulatory relief, found strong tokenisation potential, and launched follow-on work including a possible regulatory sandbox, a tokenised government bond initiative and a Deposit Token Working Group. Australia's domestic real-time rail remains the NPP, via PayID and PayTo. Separately, from 10 June 2025, buy-now-pay-later providers must hold a credit licence under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Act 2024, bringing BNPL inside the consumer-credit perimeter with responsible-lending obligations and AFCA membership.
Outlook
Project Acacia's follow-on initiatives - the possible sandbox, tokenised bond work and Deposit Token Working Group - are the items most likely to generate the next wave of product-innovation news; BNPL's credit-licensing regime is now a settled baseline rather than a live development.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Product Innovation & Market Development
The RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre's Project Acacia (Phase 2, 2025-26) tested 24 use cases spanning stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC. Its Final Report, published 19 May 2026, issued a pilot wholesale CBDC directly onto third-party distributed-ledger platforms - a world-first, with total issuance of A$4.4 million - under ASIC regulatory relief, found strong tokenisation potential, and launched follow-on work including a possible regulatory sandbox, a tokenised government bond initiative and a Deposit Token Working Group. Australia's domestic real-time rail remains the NPP, via PayID and PayTo. Separately, from 10 June 2025, buy-now-pay-later providers must hold a credit licence under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Act 2024, bringing BNPL inside the consumer-credit perimeter with responsible-lending obligations and AFCA membership.
Outlook
Project Acacia's follow-on initiatives - the possible sandbox, tokenised bond work and Deposit Token Working Group - are the items most likely to generate the next wave of product-innovation news; BNPL's credit-licensing regime is now a settled baseline rather than a live development.
Read the full sub-brief
Product Innovation & Market Development
The RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre's Project Acacia (Phase 2, 2025-26) tested 24 use cases spanning stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC. Its Final Report, published 19 May 2026, issued a pilot wholesale CBDC directly onto third-party distributed-ledger platforms - a world-first, with total issuance of A$4.4 million - under ASIC regulatory relief, found strong tokenisation potential, and launched follow-on work including a possible regulatory sandbox, a tokenised government bond initiative and a Deposit Token Working Group. Australia's domestic real-time rail remains the NPP, via PayID and PayTo. Separately, from 10 June 2025, buy-now-pay-later providers must hold a credit licence under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Act 2024, bringing BNPL inside the consumer-credit perimeter with responsible-lending obligations and AFCA membership.
Outlook
Project Acacia's follow-on initiatives - the possible sandbox, tokenised bond work and Deposit Token Working Group - are the items most likely to generate the next wave of product-innovation news; BNPL's credit-licensing regime is now a settled baseline rather than a live development.
Australia's domestic real-time rail is the New Payments Platform (NPP, run by Australian Payments Plus), with PayID (addressing) and PayTo (a digital-first alternative to direct debit, mandated authorisations) as headline products; monthly NPP volumes exceed 100 million with ~one in three account transfers on the network, and migration of account-to-account payments to the NPP is intended over the medium term. The RBA/DFCRC's Project Acacia (Phase 2, 2025-26) tested 24 use cases across stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale CBDC, issuing pilot wCBDC directly onto third-party DLT platforms (a world-first) with ASIC regulatory relief; the Final Report (19 May 2026) found strong tokenisation potential and launched follow-on work (possible regulatory sandbox, tokenised government bond initiative, Deposit Token Working Group). BNPL was brought under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (credit licence required from 10 June 2025). Open banking under the Consumer Data Right continues to build out action-initiation linkages to payments.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
W11ConfirmedAML/CFT & Financial Crime (Sentinel.gi-fed)
Sentinelsee this theme across all jurisdictions →4 claims[Sentinel.gi position, payments context only] Australia's AML/CTF regime is administered by AUSTRAC under the AML/CTF Act 2006. Tranche-1 reporting entities (banks, remittance providers, digital currency exchanges, casinos) are long-regulated. The AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 delivers major reform: 'Tranche 2' extends obligations to DNFBPs (lawyers, accountants, real estate, dealers in precious metals/stones) from 1 July 2026, expanding the regulated population to ~100,000 entities; new virtual-asset services and CDD/program changes commenced 31 March 2026. The reforms streamline funds-transfer/remittance concepts into a single value-transfer chain, replace IFTI with International Value Transfer Service (IVTS) reports, and introduce a 'travel rule' for money, virtual-asset and property transfers (from 31 March 2026, with VA travel-rule from 1 July 2026). FTR Act repealed 7 January 2025; tipping-off offence reframed 31 March 2025. Transitional rules give phased CDD/compliance-officer timelines.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
AML/CFT & Financial Crime
This module is sourced from the Sentinel feed (sentinel.gi). No direct Sentinel W11 feed was available for Australia this cycle; the AML/CFT finding captured this cycle was surfaced via the W1b licensing lens and is reported there in full.
For the record: AUSTRAC's FATF-aligned virtual-asset service provider AML/CTF regime commenced 31 March 2026, requiring AUSTRAC registration and an AML/CTF programme for virtual-asset and value-transfer designated services. This finding has been cross-flagged to the Financial Intelligence Monitor. Readers tracking the AML/CFT surface for Australian virtual-asset operators should consult the Sentinel feed and the FIM directly for fuller coverage.
The absence of a direct Sentinel W11 feed for Australia this cycle means the AML/CFT surface is under-indexed. The VASP regime finding should be treated as a floor rather than a ceiling for AU AML/CTF regulatory activity.
Outlook
Future AU cycles should prioritise direct Sentinel W11 coverage to avoid continued licensing-domain overloading of AML/CFT findings. The AUSTRAC VASP regime is now live and will generate enforcement and compliance developments that are properly W11 material.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
AML/CFT & Financial Crime (Sentinel.gi-fed)
This module is carried as a Sentinel.gi position only; no original illicit-finance analysis is performed here, and the underlying intelligence is routed to the Financial Integrity Monitor. Per Sentinel.gi, AUSTRAC's AML/CTF reforms under the Amendment Act 2024 close gaps against international standards: customer-due-diligence and reporting-entity program changes started 31 March 2026 unless deferred under transitional rules, the Financial Transaction Reports Act was repealed 7 January 2025, and Tranche 2 extends obligations to designated non-financial businesses and professions from 1 July 2026, across a regulated population of roughly 100,000 entities. Sentinel.gi also reports that the Amendment Act streamlines funds-transfer and designated-remittance concepts into a single value-transfer chain and introduces International Value Transfer Service reports replacing International Funds Transfer Instruction reports, with a travel rule applying to money and property from 31 March 2026 and to virtual-asset transfers from 1 July 2026; existing digital currency exchanges automatically transition to virtual-asset-service-provider status.
Outlook
Per Sentinel.gi, the 1 July 2026 Tranche 2/travel-rule commencement is the key date; for original illicit-finance analysis of these reforms, refer to the Financial Integrity Monitor.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
AML/CFT & Financial Crime (Sentinel.gi-fed)
This module is carried as a Sentinel.gi position only; no original illicit-finance analysis is performed here, and the underlying intelligence is routed to the Financial Integrity Monitor. Per Sentinel.gi, AUSTRAC's AML/CTF reforms under the Amendment Act 2024 close gaps against international standards: customer-due-diligence and reporting-entity program changes started 31 March 2026 unless deferred under transitional rules, the Financial Transaction Reports Act was repealed 7 January 2025, and Tranche 2 extends obligations to designated non-financial businesses and professions from 1 July 2026, across a regulated population of roughly 100,000 entities. Sentinel.gi also reports that the Amendment Act streamlines funds-transfer and designated-remittance concepts into a single value-transfer chain and introduces International Value Transfer Service reports replacing International Funds Transfer Instruction reports, with a travel rule applying to money and property from 31 March 2026 and to virtual-asset transfers from 1 July 2026; existing digital currency exchanges automatically transition to virtual-asset-service-provider status.
Outlook
Per Sentinel.gi, the 1 July 2026 Tranche 2/travel-rule commencement is the key date; for original illicit-finance analysis of these reforms, refer to the Financial Integrity Monitor.
Read the full sub-brief
AML/CFT & Financial Crime (Sentinel.gi-fed)
This module is carried as a Sentinel.gi position only; no original illicit-finance analysis is performed here, and the underlying intelligence is routed to the Financial Integrity Monitor. Per Sentinel.gi, AUSTRAC's AML/CTF reforms under the Amendment Act 2024 close gaps against international standards: customer-due-diligence and reporting-entity program changes started 31 March 2026 unless deferred under transitional rules, the Financial Transaction Reports Act was repealed 7 January 2025, and Tranche 2 extends obligations to designated non-financial businesses and professions from 1 July 2026, across a regulated population of roughly 100,000 entities. Sentinel.gi also reports that the Amendment Act streamlines funds-transfer and designated-remittance concepts into a single value-transfer chain and introduces International Value Transfer Service reports replacing International Funds Transfer Instruction reports, with a travel rule applying to money and property from 31 March 2026 and to virtual-asset transfers from 1 July 2026; existing digital currency exchanges automatically transition to virtual-asset-service-provider status.
Outlook
Per Sentinel.gi, the 1 July 2026 Tranche 2/travel-rule commencement is the key date; for original illicit-finance analysis of these reforms, refer to the Financial Integrity Monitor.
[Sentinel.gi position, payments context only] Australia's AML/CTF regime is administered by AUSTRAC under the AML/CTF Act 2006. Tranche-1 reporting entities (banks, remittance providers, digital currency exchanges, casinos) are long-regulated. The AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 delivers major reform: 'Tranche 2' extends obligations to DNFBPs (lawyers, accountants, real estate, dealers in precious metals/stones) from 1 July 2026, expanding the regulated population to ~100,000 entities; new virtual-asset services and CDD/program changes commenced 31 March 2026. The reforms streamline funds-transfer/remittance concepts into a single value-transfer chain, replace IFTI with International Value Transfer Service (IVTS) reports, and introduce a 'travel rule' for money, virtual-asset and property transfers (from 31 March 2026, with VA travel-rule from 1 July 2026). FTR Act repealed 7 January 2025; tipping-off offence reframed 31 March 2025. Transitional rules give phased CDD/compliance-officer timelines.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- True
Event Findings
Settlement of high-value and NPP payments occurs through the RBA's Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (RITS), with exchange settlement accounts (ESAs) held at the RBA; the NPP's Fast Settlement Service settles in real time on ESAs. Direct settlement/ESA access has historically been bank-centric, but the payments modernisation reforms introduce Common Access Requirements (CARs, APRA-administered under Tranche 2) intended to facilitate direct access to payment systems for non-ADI PSPs, promoting competition. Correspondent banking faces de-risking pressure, particularly on South Pacific remittance corridors where concentration and reduced bank risk-appetite create fragile AUD/NZD connectivity. Project Acacia tested settlement via ESAs, PayTo/NPP Fast Settlement Service and pilot wholesale CBDC for tokenised assets (e.g., Westpac demonstrated PayTo settling tokenised term-deposit transactions into RITS without wCBDC; Northern Trust settled tokenised carbon credits via SWIFT into RITS). The RBA is operationalising crisis-resolution powers for clearing and settlement facilities.
Periodic update 2026-07-08T06:47:33Z
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
The analytical spine of W12 is the asymmetry between ADIs — which hold full prudential authorisation and direct Exchange Settlement Account access — and non-bank payment institutions, which access the payments system through ADI intermediaries. The Australian payments-reform cycle is now directly engaging with this asymmetry, though the resolution is deferred to a review that has not yet commenced.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed it will review its Exchange Settlement Account access policy commencing H2 2026, contingent on the first tranche of PSP-licensing reforms having passed Parliament. The second phase of that review includes proposed common-access requirements under which APRA would set proportionate regulatory arrangements for non-bank PSPs seeking direct ESA access. This sequencing is significant: the licensing reforms that bring non-bank PSPs into the regulatory perimeter are intended to precede the access-policy review, on the logic that a non-bank PSP seeking direct central-bank settlement access should first be subject to a formal regulatory framework.
The bank versus non-bank access asymmetry has a second dimension in the current reform cycle: the safeguarding trust-account requirement (W1b) mandates that non-bank PSPs hold customer money in a trust account with an Australian ADI. This creates a statutory dependency on ADI banking relationships that is distinct from, but related to, the ESA access question. A non-bank PSP that cannot obtain or maintain an ADI trust account cannot satisfy its safeguarding obligation; a non-bank PSP that cannot obtain direct ESA access must route payments through an ADI intermediary. Both constraints reinforce the structural position of ADIs as gatekeepers to the Australian payments system, even as the licensing reforms formally expand the regulatory perimeter to include non-bank PSPs.
The W12 module has no new corridor-level or correspondent-banking-specific developments this cycle beyond the ESA access review announcement. The module's trajectory is established rather than escalating, reflecting the fact that the access question is on the regulatory agenda but not yet in active consultation.
Outlook
The ESA access review is expected to commence H2 2026, subject to the Tranche 1 licensing package having passed Parliament. The review's outcome will be the most consequential structural development for non-bank PSPs in the Australian market over the medium term. If the review results in a credible direct-access pathway for non-bank PSPs, it will materially alter the competitive dynamics between bank and non-bank payment providers. If it results in a more limited or conditional access framework, the ADI intermediation layer will remain the structural ceiling for non-bank PSPs.
2 earlier updates
Periodic update 2026-07-07T16:38:44Z
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
This module's analytical spine is the bank/non-bank access asymmetry in Australian settlement infrastructure. Settlement of high-value and NPP payments runs through the Reserve Bank's RITS system via Exchange Settlement Accounts, with the NPP's Fast Settlement Service settling in real time on those accounts - access that has historically been bank-centric. The payments modernisation reforms introduce Common Access Requirements, APRA-administered under Tranche 2, intended to facilitate direct access to Australian payment systems for non-ADI PSPs and promote competition, opening a settlement layer non-bank providers have previously had to access only through bank sponsors. Separately, the Payments System Board welcomed progress operationalising powers to prevent or resolve a crisis at an Australian clearing and settlement facility, with guidance on the RBA's crisis-resolution powers expected in December 2025.
Outlook
The Common Access Requirements are the item most likely to reshape non-bank PSP competitive positioning, by reducing dependence on bank sponsors for direct settlement access; watch for APRA's Tranche 2 detail on eligibility and for the December 2025 crisis-resolution guidance.
Periodic update 2026-07-07T15:16:30Z
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
This module's analytical spine is the bank/non-bank access asymmetry in Australian settlement infrastructure. Settlement of high-value and NPP payments runs through the Reserve Bank's RITS system via Exchange Settlement Accounts, with the NPP's Fast Settlement Service settling in real time on those accounts - access that has historically been bank-centric. The payments modernisation reforms introduce Common Access Requirements, APRA-administered under Tranche 2, intended to facilitate direct access to Australian payment systems for non-ADI PSPs and promote competition, opening a settlement layer non-bank providers have previously had to access only through bank sponsors. Separately, the Payments System Board welcomed progress operationalising powers to prevent or resolve a crisis at an Australian clearing and settlement facility, with guidance on the RBA's crisis-resolution powers expected in December 2025.
Outlook
The Common Access Requirements are the item most likely to reshape non-bank PSP competitive positioning, by reducing dependence on bank sponsors for direct settlement access; watch for APRA's Tranche 2 detail on eligibility and for the December 2025 crisis-resolution guidance.
Read the full sub-brief
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
This module's analytical spine is the bank/non-bank access asymmetry in Australian settlement infrastructure. Settlement of high-value and NPP payments runs through the Reserve Bank's RITS system via Exchange Settlement Accounts, with the NPP's Fast Settlement Service settling in real time on those accounts - access that has historically been bank-centric. The payments modernisation reforms introduce Common Access Requirements, APRA-administered under Tranche 2, intended to facilitate direct access to Australian payment systems for non-ADI PSPs and promote competition, opening a settlement layer non-bank providers have previously had to access only through bank sponsors. Separately, the Payments System Board welcomed progress operationalising powers to prevent or resolve a crisis at an Australian clearing and settlement facility, with guidance on the RBA's crisis-resolution powers expected in December 2025.
Outlook
The Common Access Requirements are the item most likely to reshape non-bank PSP competitive positioning, by reducing dependence on bank sponsors for direct settlement access; watch for APRA's Tranche 2 detail on eligibility and for the December 2025 crisis-resolution guidance.
Settlement of high-value and NPP payments occurs through the RBA's Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (RITS), with exchange settlement accounts (ESAs) held at the RBA; the NPP's Fast Settlement Service settles in real time on ESAs. Direct settlement/ESA access has historically been bank-centric, but the payments modernisation reforms introduce Common Access Requirements (CARs, APRA-administered under Tranche 2) intended to facilitate direct access to payment systems for non-ADI PSPs, promoting competition. Correspondent banking faces de-risking pressure, particularly on South Pacific remittance corridors where concentration and reduced bank risk-appetite create fragile AUD/NZD connectivity. Project Acacia tested settlement via ESAs, PayTo/NPP Fast Settlement Service and pilot wholesale CBDC for tokenised assets (e.g., Westpac demonstrated PayTo settling tokenised term-deposit transactions into RITS without wCBDC; Northern Trust settled tokenised carbon credits via SWIFT into RITS). The RBA is operationalising crisis-resolution powers for clearing and settlement facilities.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False