Australia: Industry Structure & Commercial

Industry Structure & Commercial Dynamics

Treasury has signalled directional interest in a later-2026 review of the ePayments Code and in common-access-regime work, indicating that Australia's payments-industry structural reform agenda extends beyond the Tranche 1 licensing and prudential reforms already in exposure-draft form. Specifically, Treasury has indicated it will consider common access requirements and the establishment of an industry standard-setting body, though this remains a directional signal without a confirmed timeline or committed legislative vehicle at this stage.

Separately, the Reserve Bank of Australia's position on merchant surcharging remains open and unresolved. No development in the material available this cycle clarified the RBA's likely direction on this question, and it should be tracked as a distinct, unsettled thread from the Treasury-led licensing and prudential reforms.

Taken together, these signals suggest that Australia's payments-industry structural reform agenda for 2026 has at least three separate strands moving at different speeds: the advanced Tranche 1 AFSL-licensing exposure draft (consultation already closed), the parallel APRA prudential-regime exposure draft, and the earlier-stage, undated ePayments Code review and common-access-regime consideration. Market participants should not assume these three strands will move in lockstep or converge on a single implementation timeline.

Outlook

No committed timeline has been confirmed for either the ePayments Code review or the RBA's merchant-surcharging position. Both should be treated as slower-moving, earlier-stage threads relative to the Tranche 1 licensing reforms, and watched for further Treasury or RBA signalling in coming cycles.