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Homepage > News > Finance > Australia calls for regulation as digital payments soar Australian banks have called for an update on the payment laws to incorporate digital payment services, whose market share has skyrocketed in recent years. The Australian Banking Association (ABA) called on the country’s parliament to pass proposed amendments to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act, which would expand the scope of regulations to include digital payments. The Act was passed in 1998 and has not been updated since, leaving banks heavily regulated while their digital counterparts enjoy massive regulatory flexibility. “The payment system has rapidly evolved, yet regulations have not been updated for over 25 years,” stated Anna Bligh, the ABA CEO. “When the current laws were made in 1998, cash and cheques were the dominant payment methods, internet shopping didn’t exist, and mobile phones still had antennas.” The payments landscape in Australia has evolved rapidly over the past decade, with mobile wallets and other forms of digital payments becoming popular as Aussies abandon cash. A recent report by GlobalData found that digital payments accounted for 53% of all e-commerce transactions in 2024, surpassing card payments and cash combined for the first time. The most recent report by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) found that Aussies are making over 500 million digital payments monthly, transacting over $20 billion, “and it’s imperative that these payments are captured within the regulatory framework,” Bligh says. “With mobile wallets becoming a dominant force in Australia’s payments architecture – it’s only fair that global tech companies are subject to the same oversight and consumer protection laws as the rest of the payments system.” Indeed, global digital payments giants dominate the Australian market. One report found that PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) has a substantial lead in digital payments in the country, with Apple…

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Filed under: News - @ February 13, 2025 2:14 am