Weekly Update: 12 September 2025

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Key News:

• The ABA distributed a media release supporting the RBA’s proposal to ban card surcharging, however called for an alternative on interchange fees
• The RBA published 151 public submissions on the Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging.
• The ABA appeared at the Senate Economics’ References Committee’s hearing on Micro-competition in eConveyancing to discuss Interoperability.

Quote of the week:
“We are concerned at the advantage secondary changes would give to multinational technology and payments companies – who would remain largely unregulated – over Australian banks who primarily fund critical infrastructure, like fraud prevention”

–  Simon Birmingham, CEO, Australian Banking Association. Statement to media on the ABA’s submission to the RBA’s merchant payments proposal. September 9, 2025

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Political Update:

• The Senate Economics References Committee held a public hearing in Melbourne on ‘Micro-competition opportunities in e-conveyancing’ focusing largely on competition and resilience among e-conveyancing operators (ELNOs) on Tuesday.
  • Discussion focused on the virtual monopoly in eConveyancing, particularly risks surrounding a ‘single point of failure’.
• Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien commented to the AFR on the RBA’s surcharging plans.
  • “[Small businesses] already face higher costs and thinner margins than big corporates, so the Reserve Bank must make sure any new rules are fair and do not put extra burdens on them.”
• The RBA’s Head of Payments, Ellis Connolly, addressed banks, merchant’s and small card issuers’ concerns about the surcharging ban at an industry event in Sydney.
• Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Pat Conaghan, issued a press release on regional banking.

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Policy Update:

• The ABA participated in workshops associated with Digital Identity Week.
• ABA and several bank members attended the 10th annual Australian Financial Crime Summit this week from September 9-10.
• The ABA hosted the 2025 APRA priorities briefing where APRA discussed their Corporate Plan and their focus for the next 12 months.

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Economic Update

• The RBA’s latest Retail Payments data shows ongoing declines in cash (ATM withdrawals $9b, –1.8% year-on-year; cheques $13.7b, –14.3% year-on-year), while electronic payments continue to rise.
• Card transactions reached $91.8b (+6.4% year-on-year) across 1.34b transactions, and NPP surged to $204.8b (+20.8% year-on-year) over 154m transactions.
• Merchant fees remain lowest for debit (eftpos at 0.44%) and highest for international cards (2.67–2.78%).

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Regulatory Update

• The inaugural A2A Payments Roundtable was held on 5 September in Sydney with representatives from AusPayNet, AP+, the RBA and Treasury. Participants discussed governance, stakeholder engagement, consultation findings, the future of BECS, and the Move to NPP program, with recommendations on an A2A vision expected by end-2025 and a roadmap by mid-2026.
• APRA released their quarterly ADI statistics for June 2025, which show steady ADI performance, with net profit up 2.9% to $40.1b, total assets rising 7.2% to $6.7t, and capital ratios stable. Residential lending grew 5.7% year-on-year, new loan funding jumped 16.2%, while commercial property exposures rose 9.4%.

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Coming up next week:

• Politics:
  • 12/09: Brad Jones, RBA Assistant Governor (Financial System), speaks at FINSIA Conference.
  • 16/09: Sarah Hunter, RBA Assistant Governor (Economic), fireside chat at AFIA Conference.
• Data:
  • 18/09: National, state and territory population (ABS)
  • 18/09: Labour Force, Australia (ABS)

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Events

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Selected Media

• The AFR -RBA acknowledges widespread criticism of payment fee plan
• The Australian – Major banks warn Aussies face higher credit card costs after surcharge ban
• AFR – Banks face down RBA credit card changes, warning they will charge more
• The Australian – Cost of living tipped to rise on card surcharge ban
• ABC – Home-buying dream of Australians pushed further away by RBA rate cuts, making life ‘more difficult’ 
• SMH – The $900 million fee fight that could hit frequent flyer points

Warm regards,
The ABA Team

RBAWeekly Update