Michele Bullock: Modernising Australia's payments system
Speech by Ms Michele Bullock, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, at the Australian Payments Network Summit, Sydney, 12 December 2023.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
Thank you for the invitation to speak at AusPayNet's annual summit.
The payments landscape is changing rapidly, with new business models and technologies entering the space. The industry is also moving from legacy systems towards new platforms that can deliver payment services that are faster, safer and more convenient. We therefore need to modernise our regulatory architecture and payments infrastructure to support these innovations, and we have been working with the Government to update the regulatory framework.
This morning, I will talk through how the Payments System Board is responding to this changing environment. I will begin by highlighting the Board's strategic priorities through this period of change. I will then focus on three key issues for 2024:
- The RBA's plan to conduct a comprehensive review of retail payments regulation under its expanded regulatory perimeter.
- How industry and government can work together to maintain access to cash.
- How to ensure a successful transition from BECS to modern payment systems.
The Payments System Board's strategic priorities
The Payments System Board recently refreshed its strategic priorities given the changes in the payments system and the regulatory landscape. These were set out in the Payments System Board's 2023 Annual Report.
The first priority is to strengthen the resilience of Australia's payments and market infrastructures. Businesses and consumers are more reliant on electronic payment systems than ever before, with outages becoming increasingly disruptive to everyday life. We are therefore stepping up our oversight of these systems, particularly the New Payments Platform (NPP) and the card schemes.