reserve bank is of the view that in moving to new technologies, merchants and consumers should continue to have a choice of debit card network. rules or policies of any scheme that have the effect of removing choice will reduce competition and result in rising costs to merchants. the bank will be looking closely at developments in the debit card market to ensure that, as far as possible, there is a level playing field for the alternative debit schemes. we will also work with the accc as necessary to identify and address any anti - competitive behaviour. in the specific case of least cost routing, we would not want to see the benefits to competition from this innovation thwarted by issuers taking eftpos off dual - network cards. conclusion competition is important in payments. it delivers better customer experiences, more convenience and innovative products. but as networks, collaboration is also often required. the development of the npp and recent work on addressing fraud in card payment systems are good examples of where participants that are normally competitors have cooperated to ultimately deliver better outcomes for australian consumers and merchants. these collaborative efforts, however, are not without their challenges. as the payments system regulator, the reserve bank remains willing to engage with industry and facilitate collaboration where this is in the public interest. © reserve bank of australia, 2001 – 2019. all rights reserved. https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2019 / sp - ag - 2019 - 05 - 16. html 8 / 8

philip lowe : remarks at reserve bank board dinner remarks by mr philip lowe, governor of the reserve bank of australia, at the reserve bank board dinner, adelaide, 1 may 2018. * * * good evening. it is great to be back in adelaide today. on behalf of the reserve bank board, i want to warmly thank you all for joining us at this community dinner. these dinners provide an opportunity for you to hear directly from the members of the reserve bank board and for us to hear from you about how things are here in south australia. so, welcome. i would like to begin by paying tribute to kathryn fagg. kathryn ’ s five - year term on the board comes to an end next week and so today was her final meeting. over those five years, kathryn has made an outstanding contribution to the board ’ s deliberations, drawing on her extensive experience in many different industries. kathryn has also served as chair of the board ’ s audit committee and has been the board ’ s representative on the board of note printing australia limited. she has carried out these roles, not only to the highest professional standards, but also with the greatest humanity. kathryn, you are going to be missed by your many friends and admirers at the reserve bank. as you are aware, at our meeting today, the board kept the cash rate unchanged at 1½ per cent. it has been at this level since august 2016 – that is for 21 months – which is the longest period without a change. i sometimes read that the board ’ s job has become very easy : we just meet and do nothing. no doubt, the board members here tonight will tell you a different story. they will assure you that each month when we meet, we diligently assess the pulse of the australian economy. we also deliberate carefully over what setting of monetary policy will best deliver low and stable inflation in australia. as we conduct those deliberations, we are conscious that our ultimate objective is enhancing the economic prosperity and welfare of the australian people. this objective has been part of the reserve bank act since it was written in 1959. such a broad objective became unfashionable in most central banking circles around the world over recent decades. but in my view, it is an important part of the australian policy framework and it has more than stood the test of time. at today ’ s meeting, when we measured the pulse of the australian economy, we assessed it to be stronger than a year ago. business conditions