title: Australia — Industry Structure & Commercial | World Payments Monitor canonical: https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/australia/w6/ publisher: Asymmetric Intelligence ### W6 Industry Structure & Commercial limited signal Probable confirmed 2026-06-24 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. Horizon · 2026-Q4 (± six months) ePayments Code review expected_Proposed · Tier 3 source_ Standing sub-brief · as of 5 July 2026 151 words · last cycle 2026-09-28 #### 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 · new data 2026-09-28 #### 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. **1 earlier distinct update(s)** Periodic update · new data 2026-07-08 #### 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. 1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown. **Sources and findings (4)** 1. T3 [https://paymentscmi.com/insights/australia-2025-analysis-payments-ecommerce-trends/](https://paymentscmi.com/insights/australia-2025-analysis-payments-ecommerce-trends/) retrieved 2026-06-24 2. T3 [https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/australia-fintech-market](https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/australia-fintech-market) retrieved 2026-06-24 3. T3 [https://stockhead.com.au/news/hot-money-monday-asx-fintechs-could-ride-tailwind-as-airwallex-soars-to-6bn-valuation/](https://stockhead.com.au/news/hot-money-monday-asx-fintechs-could-ride-tailwind-as-airwallex-soars-to-6bn-valuation/) retrieved 2026-06-24 4. T3 [https://cfotech.com.au/story/banking-circle-joins-ap-committee-to-boost-fintech-pay](https://cfotech.com.au/story/banking-circle-joins-ap-committee-to-boost-fintech-pay) retrieved 2026-06-24