This Month
CBA and Westpac mull removing numbers from their credit cards
Australia is expected to be the first major market to embrace numberless credit cards in the next two years, according to Mastercard.
March
Here are the 2025 winners and losers
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ fourth federal budget delivers a surprise election-eve tax cut for all working Australians. But not everyone is a winner.
RBA tells banks national interest not profit comes first on payments system
RBA assistant governor Brad Jones accused banks of putting profit over the national interest in the roll-out of a critical system that moves $18 trillion payments.
Payments business Findi launches $45m raising; taps three brokers
The broker syndicate included Morgans Corporate, MST Financial Services and Ord Minnett.
Smartpay, hurting from RBA’s surcharge review, gets takeover proposals
Given Tyro has offered $NZ1 a share, a significant premium to the last close, the target will be under pressure to formally consider the inbound interest.
RBA alarm over banks’ plans to shut key payments system
The Bulk Electronic Clearing System, which handles almost $18 trillion in payments, is being replaced. But the troubled transition has the RBA worried.
Banks deploy mobile branches, generators to cyclone zone
Major banks have sent mobile banking units powered by their own diesel generators to Brisbane, after Armaguard halted cash deliveries to ATMs due to high winds.
February
Tyro’s profit lifts from health payments boom
ASX-listed payments stocks Tyro, Cuscal and EML reported interim results on Wednesday. All three rose on the market on stronger numbers.
The Zip v Afterpay buy now, pay later rivalry is back on
Zip says it is growing faster than its competitors in the world’s biggest market – the United States – after reporting record first-half earnings.
Albanese makes $8.5b Medicare overhaul his signature election policy
The prime minister will make Medicare the centrepiece of his re-election campaign, promising to spend big to eliminate patient costs for visits to the doctor.
Cash may be gone in 10 years: RBA’s Bullock
Governor Michele Bullock says cash may only be around for 10 years. But unlike Donald Trump, she sees no role for bitcoin in central banking or payments.
Populist politics won’t make insurance cheaper
Peter Dutton has reached for a big stick without any attempt to explain how breaking insurers up into smaller companies would lower the cost of insurance.
ACCC lacks power to break up blended payment plans
Gaps in the regulatory coverage of surcharging emerged during a parliamentary hearing with the consumer commission on Friday.
Tyro Payments keeps an ear out for suitors amid share price plunge
The eftpos terminal operator’s top brass is said to be open to takeover approaches – quelle surprise – and Macquarie Group’s banking business is seen as a potential suitor.
Westpac’s Armaguard deal complicates negotiations to save banknotes
The major banks are scheduled to meet with the Lindsay Fox-owned cash transportation business in the hope of keeping the company afloat and money circulating.
Anna Bligh to retire as boss of banking lobby group
The former Queensland premier took up the job as the industry’s peak lobbyist in the midst of a damning financial services royal commission.
January
NAB helps Amazon bypass credit cards with new way for customers to pay
The bank will enable the online retailing platform to accept payments directly from bank accounts, via an Reserve Bank-backed system known as PayTo.
Mastercard and Visa resist RBA plan to force fee disclosure
The US card giants are pushing back on the central bank’s objective of making their charges more transparent.
Banks pick fight with RBA over wholesale payment fees
The central bank is considering stricter caps on “interchange fees” in its review of payment costs. Worth $2.1 billion annually, squeezing this could hurt competition.
Payments provider Findi in $30m bolt-on acquisition ahead of IPO
Its backers have their eyes peeled for the Indian subsidiary’s IPO, which they’ve been told could see the unit valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.