Yesterday, Ed Husic, Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics, announced a new inquiry into Credit cards and digital wallets and related matters. There is a small business focus here, as noted in the Terms of Reference and in this quote from Husic: It’s clear from existing evidence that payment schemes and digital wallets will have growing cost implications for small businesses and consumers. This inquiry offers the opportunity to do a deeper dive into that.
Terms of Reference
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will inquire into matters relating to current digital payment schemes and emerging technologies, and report on:
1. Card based payment schemes and digital wallets and whether the current payment schemes landscape is fair and accessible, including:
a) transparency and affordability of scheme fees for payments services providers;
b) the inequity of payment costs for small businesses;
c) the extent to which consolidated market power between payment schemes has impacted choice and accessibility to alternative payment systems.2. New and emerging payment technologies in the payments space, including but not limited to:
a) digital currency and blockchain technology;
b) account to account-based payments;
c) opportunities for Australia to increase competition and consumer choice, and decrease fees in the digital payment processing industry;
d) any other matters.
Smart newsagents will make a submission, to ensure their perspective is on the table. I know the Independent Payments Forum, of which newsXpress and ALNA are financial members will make a professional submission.