Payments System Board Update: June 2025 Meeting | Media Releases | RBA
Central bank: rba | Type: statement | Date: 2025-06-05

Media Release
Payments System Board Update: June 2025 Meeting
5 June 2025
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.
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.
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
Board received an update on progress against the recommendations from the
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.
welcomed the
Standard for Payment Service Provider Porting of Merchant Payment-Related Data
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
Potential Conflicts of Interest Arising from the RBA’s Commercial Activities
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.