RBA Payments System Board June 2025 Meeting Update

At its meeting today, the Payments System Board discussed a number of issues, including:

• ASX's response following the CHESS batch failure incident in December 2024. The Board discussed ASX's response to the RBA's out-of-cycle assessment of ASX Clear and ASX Settlement, which required ASX to set out how it would strengthen resourcing and implement contingency arrangements for CHESS. The response did not address key parts of the issues raised in the assessment and provided insufficient detail on ASX's plans to remediate these issues. The RBA has taken further steps to obtain this information and has now received additional details. The Board requested the staff to continue exploring regulatory options on resourcing for current CHESS and to ensure CHESS Replacement is designed with an appropriate level of resilience for critical financial market infrastructure.
• Financial market infrastructure regulatory reforms and resolution planning. The Board welcomed progress in operationalising powers to prevent or resolve a crisis at an Australian clearing and settlement facility. The Board endorsed a public consultation on guidance that will provide stakeholders with information about when and how the RBA would generally expect to exercise its crisis resolution powers. The public consultation is expected to commence shortly.
• The safety and resilience of Australia's real-time gross settlement system. The Board received an update on progress against the recommendations from the March 2024 Assessment of the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (RITS). The update covered key areas of oversight focus, such as change management and cyber resilience, as well as updates regarding the RBA's uplift in risk management and culture, IT controls framework, and the operating model for RITS. The Board acknowledged that while meaningful progress has been made, it is unlikely that these improvements will take full effect by the next assessment of RITS, which is scheduled for March 2026.
• Review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. The Board discussed various policy options stemming from its review into card payment costs and surcharging aimed to promote the public interest by supporting competition, efficiency and safety in the payments system. The RBA expects to release a consultation paper in July, which will seek feedback on the Board's preliminary conclusions and draft revisions to the RBA's standards.
• Improving security, efficiency and competition for online card payments. The Board welcomed the Standard for Payment Service Provider Porting of Merchant Payment-Related Data (the Standard), developed by AusPayNet in consultation with industry. The Standard details a common set of requirements for the transfer of customer payment data between providers, to support merchants switching providers, including to access better payment plans. The Board expects industry participants to comply with the Standard by 1 July 2026. This is consistent with the RBA's previously issued Expectations for Tokenisation of Payment Cards and Storage of PANs, which is aimed at improving security, efficiency and competition for online card payments.
• ATM Access Regime. The Board approved minor amendments to the ATM Access Regime to accommodate a change in the way the associated ATM Access Code is administered by industry.
• Amendment to the RBA policy on conflicts of interest to support constructive engagement with the payments industry. The Board approved an amendment to the RBA's policy on Managing Potential Conflicts of Interest Arising from the RBA's Commercial Activities to allow staff from Payments Policy Department and Banking Department to simultaneously observe and/or participate in industry committees or working groups with broad representation. This will enable staff to identify payments policy issues early and encourage industry to voluntarily put in place solutions that achieve the RBA's public interest objectives.