brad jones : panel participation at the regulators 2024 speech by mr brad jones, assistant governor ( financial system ) of the reserve bank of australia, at the regulators 2024 " navigating trans - tasman financial challenges ", organised by finsia ( financial services institute of australasia ), sydney, 8 november 2024. * * * good afternoon, and thank you to finsia for the opportunity to discuss some of the rba's regulatory and supervisory priorities in our payments policy and financial stability work. australia has a payments system that we can be proud of. by global standards, it is fast, efficient and reliable. at the same time, the australian payments landscape is rapidly evolving, and there is always room for improvement. alongside opportunities for new business models and technologies to emerge, there are also some challenges for the system. regulators are leaning into these challenges and industry will need to as well. the payments system board is focused on fostering competition and innovation in a regulatory environment that promotes the ongoing safety and security of the australian payments system. in overseeing the activities of clearing and settlement facilities with our colleagues at asic, rba staff and the payments system board ( psb ) are equally focused on ensuring that these critical operations are run in a way that supports the stability of the australian financial system. with this in mind, let me share with you the psb's five strategic priorities that were set out in the recently released annual report. 1 priority # 1 : promoting the safety and resilience of payments and market infrastructures australians increasingly depend on the availability of electronic payment systems, and our financial system is reliant on the smooth functioning of market infrastructures. the orderly migration of bulk electronic clearing service ( becs ) payments to more modern payment rails, such as the new payments platform ( npp ), is of critical importance, recognising that becs has been australia's primary system for account - toaccount payments for over 30 years ( facilitating most salary, welfare and pension payments ). the industry target date of 2030 is ambitious and will require a concerted and coordinated effort by industry to meet. this effort must include close engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. in the meantime, the rba is conducting a risk assessment to identify and understand how the transition risks are being managed. beyond becs, and in light of the worsening cyber and geopolitical risk environment, the operational resilience of australia's payment

systems is a principal focus for the psb. rba staff are closely monitoring the ability of market infrastructures to upgrade their technologies and manage these risks, including relating to third - party service providers. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches priority # 2 : supporting reforms of the regulatory framework for payments and market infrastructures as regulators need to have the powers to address emerging issues in the payments system, the psb continues to strongly support the government's ongoing reforms to modernise the regulatory framework. rba staff are also operationalising our new crisis management and supervisory powers for clearing and settlement facilities that featured in the recent reforms to financial market infrastructure regulation. priority # 3 : lowering the cost of card payments for merchants, especially small businesses the rba recently launched a review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. options under review include those aiming to reduce the level and complexity of wholesale fees in card payments and promoting greater transparency for merchants. the review is also examining whether limits need to be placed on surcharging. stakeholder submissions on these issues are invited by early december. 2 priority # 4 : improving cross - border payments, which remain expensive, slow and opaque the psb is encouraging the adoption of internationally harmonised messaging capabilities and enhanced functionality for cross - border payments. a recent example was the launch of the npp's international payments service, which will significantly speed up incoming cross - border payments. rba staff also continue to examine options for linking fast payment systems across countries. priority # 5 : actively shaping the future of digital money this is a clear priority for the psb and also features in the rba's corporate plan. in september, we published a paper with treasury that set out our assessment of the case for central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) in australia, and for the first time laid out a three - year roadmap for future work. 3 at present, we assess the benefits to the economy as more promising, and the challenges less problematic, for a wholesale cbdc compared with a retail version that would be available to the general public. as i recently discussed, the rba has made a strategic commitment to prioritise our applied research on the role that cbdc could play in lifting the efficiency and resilience of wholesale markets in australia. 4 to that end, we are about to invite responses to a consultation paper on a new research project, project acacia. with industry partners, we look forward to exploring how innovations in