Australia sets national vision for account-to-account payments

Australia’s A2A Payments Roundtable has released a long-term vision for the country’s account-to-account payments system, setting a common policy and industry reference point for infrastructure that supports millions of transactions each day. The Roundtable said the system underpins wages, superannuation, welfare, bills, taxes and transfers between family and friends, making its resilience and capability material to the wider economy.

The Roundtable brings together Australian Payments Network Limited, Australian Payments Plus, the Reserve Bank of Australia and Commonwealth Treasury. Its stated objective is a trusted account-to-account payments system that responds to changing needs among consumers, businesses and government agencies while supporting resilience, competition, innovation and productivity.

Account-to-account payments move money between accounts and are a core part of Australia’s domestic payments infrastructure. The Roundtable said the operating environment is changing quickly as technology advances, fraud and cyber risks increase, and end-user expectations shift. The vision is intended to provide a durable guide for future decisions on capability, standards and governance.

Five outcomes for end-users

The framework is organised around five outcomes that the Roundtable says A2A payments should deliver for end-users: safety, reliability, affordability, ease of use and inclusion. Those outcomes apply across consumers, businesses and government agencies.

To deliver them consistently, the vision identifies six characteristics for the system. The Roundtable said A2A payments should be secure and protected, highly available and resilient, rich in features and capabilities, accessible to providers, commercially viable and appropriately standardised.

The governance model is also a central part of the framework. The Roundtable said clear, collaborative and adaptable arrangements should support the system so that it remains a trusted national asset operating in the public interest.

Consultation backs modernisation

The vision follows workshops, bilateral discussions and a public consultation across the payments sector. According to the Roundtable, submissions came from banks, payment service providers, fintechs, technology companies, merchants, industry bodies and government agencies.

Feedback showed broad support for a shared national direction, stronger A2A capability and the modernisation of Australia’s payments infrastructure, the Roundtable said. Respondents also sought more clarity on delivery, including priorities, sequencing and governance.

A summary of the consultation feedback has been published alongside the vision. The Roundtable said that summary sets out how the final framework was changed in response to comments received during the consultation process.

Roadmap to set delivery plan

The next phase is the development of an A2A payments roadmap. The Roundtable said the roadmap will define how the vision will be put into effect, including high-level deliverables, implementation timelines and governance and coordination arrangements.

The Roundtable said a shared roadmap should give banks, payment service providers and scheme operators a clearer basis for building products and services. It also said structured mechanisms have been established to gather input from banks, payment service providers, end-users and other stakeholders while the roadmap is developed.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.