Australian regulators are considering intervening to stop banks automatically directing payments through major global card providers.
In Brief:
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Currently most payments automatically go through Visa and Mastercard.
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According to Reuters regulators would encourage banks to end this practice so retailers will have the cheaper option to use EFTPOS, a local payments network.
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EFTPOS is owned by local financial institutions and retailers.
What does this mean?
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), using Mastercard and Visa costs retailers more than twice as much as using EFTPOS. The retailers’ association has said this adds between A$300-500mn per year in extra costs. The change could mean huge saving especially for smaller businesses.
