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APRA is to gain new prudential-standard-setting powers over major SVF providers (>AUD 200m aggregate stored value) under the Payment Entities (Prudential Regulation) Bill 2026 exposure draft.
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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 & Critical Infrastructure
A new prudential dimension is being introduced into Australia's payments regulatory architecture through the Payment Entities (Prudential Regulation) Bill 2026 exposure draft. Under this proposal, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will gain new prudential-standard-setting powers over major stored-value-facility providers, specifically those whose aggregate group credit exceeds AUD 200 million. This creates a genuinely new regulatory tier: these major providers will be required to register with APRA and become subject to prudential standards, but they will not be treated as authorised deposit-taking institutions, meaning they sit outside the full banking-prudential regime while still being subject to a bespoke, non-bank prudential overlay.
This bank-PSP versus non-bank distinction is the analytical spine of this development. Australia is not extending full ADI status to large stored-value-facility providers, which would bring the full weight of banking capital, liquidity and governance requirements; instead, it is constructing a parallel, purpose-built prudential regime calibrated to the specific risk profile of stored-value-facility business at scale. This reflects a considered judgment that systemic risk from large non-bank payment providers warrants supervisory attention distinct from, rather than identical to, banking supervision.
The AUD 200 million aggregate-group-credit threshold is the operative boundary determining which providers fall within this new prudential perimeter. Providers below that threshold will remain within the conduct-focused AFSL licensing framework being developed under the parallel Tranche 1 reforms, without the additional prudential-standard-setting overlay that APRA will apply to providers above it.
Outlook
The Payment Entities (Prudential Regulation) Bill 2026 remains at exposure-draft stage. Stored-value-facility providers operating at or near the AUD 200 million aggregate-group-credit threshold should monitor the Bill's progression closely, as its finalisation will determine whether they fall within APRA's new prudential perimeter or remain solely within the AFSL conduct framework.
1 earlier distinct update(s)
Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
Mastercard card payments were temporarily declined for some Australian customers on 15 August 2026 due to a global technical issue; Mastercard confirmed the disruption was resolved the same day. This is a dated, single-day incident carried at dashboard tier rather than a standing structural finding, monitored for recurrence and for cross-reference to scheme-compliance and acquiring-side impact in future cycles.
Outlook
No further action items are outstanding on this incident; it is closed as resolved and will be revisited only if a recurrence or related scheme disclosure surfaces in a future cycle.
1 earlier update recorded under a different module label
An early cycle filed this entry under this module code with a heading naming another subject. Kept for the record; not this module's latest position.
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.
1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.
Sources and findings (4)
- T1https://www.apra.gov.au/operational-risk-managementretrieved
- T1https://handbook.apra.gov.au/standard/cps-230retrieved
- T1https://www.apra.gov.au/final-targeted-amendments-to-cps-230-operational-risk-managementretrieved
- T3https://www.twobirds.com/en/insights/2023/australia/apras-cps-230-takes-effect [CAVEAT: Tier 3 secondary source — Assessed; verify vs primary pre-publication]