Payments System Board Update: June 2025 Meeting | Media Releases

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.