Overview

• The Reserve Bank is proposing to ban card surcharges and cut interchange fee caps, with the bank estimating about A$1.2 billion in annual shopper savings and roughly A$900 million less issuer income.
• Michele Bullock said banks would continue to make money on payments and called it unrealistic that they would scale back fraud protections.
• Major banks and networks including NAB and Visa warn lower fee caps could curb fraud-detection investment and consumer perks, while ABA chief Simon Birmingham cautions about higher upfront costs and shorter interest-free periods.
• Recent laws expose firms that fail to reasonably detect or prevent scams to penalties of up to A$50 million, reinforcing obligations to maintain strong protections.
• The consultation closed in August and the RBA plans a final report and rollout timetable by year‑end, with assistant governor Brad Jones flagging tools such as voluntary undertakings, new standards and regulation of acquirer margins if needed.