Regulations
Under Part 3 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998, the Reserve Bank may designate a payment system if it considers that designating the system is in the public interest. It may then impose an access regime or establish standards to be complied with by participants in the system. This page provides links to designations, standards, access regimes, exemptions from the interchange fee provisions of the Access Regime for the ATM System and relevant media releases.
Some organisations have provided written undertakings to the Reserve Bank in relation to standards determined under section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998. These undertakings are listed here for completeness because they affect the operation of the relevant payment systems even though they have not been directly regulated.
Payment Cards Regulation
All correspondence related to these regulations should be directed to cardsregulation@rba.gov.au
| Title | System | Commencement Date | Date of Gazettal | Media Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designation of MasterCard system | MasterCard | 12 Apr 2001 | 12 Apr 2001 | 2001-09 |
| Designation of VISA system | Visa | 12 Apr 2001 | 12 Apr 2001 | 2001-09 |
| Designation of Visa debit | Visa Debit | 23 Feb 2004 | 23 Feb 2004 | 2004-01 |
| Designation No.1 of 2012 | EFTPOS (Narrow definition) |
12 Jun 2012 | 12 Jun 2012 | 2012-15 |
| Designation No.2 of 2015 | Debit MasterCard | 15 Oct 2015 | 15 Oct 2015 | 2015-19 |
| Designation No.3 of 2015 | EFTPOS prepaid | 15 Oct 2015 | 15 Oct 2015 | 2015-19 |
| Designation No.4 of 2015 | MasterCard prepaid | 15 Oct 2015 | 15 Oct 2015 | 2015-19 |
| Designation No.5 of 2015 | Visa prepaid | 15 Oct 2015 | 15 Oct 2015 | 2015-19 |
| Title | System | Commencement Date | Date of Gazettal/Registration | Media Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard No.1 of 2016: The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Credit Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers (compilation) | MasterCard, Visa | 1 Jul 2017, amended effective 1 Jan 2022 |
26 May 2016 Variation: 21 Nov 2017 Variation: 3 June 2019 Variation: 18 Nov 2021 |
2016-15 2017-24 2019-14 2021-23 |
| Standard No.2 of 2016: The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Debit and Prepaid Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers (compilation) | Visa Debit, EFTPOS, Debit MasterCard, EFTPOS prepaid, MasterCard prepaid, Visa prepaid | 1 Jul 2017, amended effective 1 Jan 2022 |
26 May 2016 Variation: 21 Nov 2017 Variation: 3 June 2019 Variation: 18 Nov 2021 |
2016-15 2017-24 2019-14 2021-23 |
| Standard No.3 of 2016: Scheme Rules Relating to Merchant Pricing for Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Transactions (compilation) | All designated systems | 1 Sep 2016, amended effective 1 Jan 2022 | 26 May 2016 Variation: 18 Nov 2021 |
2016-15
2021-23 |
| Title | System | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance on ‘Core Services’ in Standard No.1 of 2016 and Standard No.2 of 2016 | All designated systems | 29 Apr 2020 |
| Guidance for new Issuers on certification under Standard No.1 of 2016 and Standard No.2 of 2016 | All designated systems | 25 Feb 2021 |
| Guidance on the valuation of non-monetary benefits under Standard No. 1 of 2016 and Standard No. 2 of 2016 | All designated systems | 6 Apr 2022 |
| Title | System | Commencement Date | Date of Gazettal | Media Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Regime | MasterCard | 23 Feb 2004 |
23 Feb 2004 Variation: 1 Jan 2015 |
2004-02 2014-22 |
| Access Regime | Visa | 23 Feb 2004 |
23 Feb 2004 Variation: 1 Jan 2015 |
2004-02 2014-22 |
| Title | System | Commencement Date | Media Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undertaking No.1 of 2019: Merchant Pricing for UnionPay Card Transactions | UnionPay | 1 Oct 2019 | |
| Undertaking No.1 of 2016: The ‘Honour All Cards’ Rule in the Designated MasterCard Credit, Debit and Prepaid Systems | MasterCard Credit, Debit and Prepaid | 1 Sep 2016 | |
| Undertaking No.2 of 2016: The ‘Honour All Cards’ Rule in the Designated Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid Systems | VISA Credit, Debit and Prepaid | 1 Sep 2016 | |
| Undertaking No.3 of 2016: Merchant Pricing for American Express Proprietary Card Transactions | American Express | 2 Sep 2016 | 2002-15 |
| Undertaking No.4 of 2016: Merchant Pricing for Diners Club Card Transactions | Diners Club | 14 Oct 2016 | 2002-15 |
| The original undertakings by American Express and Diners Club were provided in August 2002. The American Express undertaking was revised in 2004 following a corporate restructure. Both were revised in 2013 to reflect changes to the Surcharging Standards that became effective in March 2013, and subsequently updated to reflect the RBA's revised Surcharging Standard. The UnionPay undertaking effective 1 October 2019 is a commitment that UnionPay will not impose any ‘no-surcharge’ rules in Australia; the previous undertaking provided in May 2017 was to the effect that any such rules would not be enforced in Australia. | |||
ATM System
| Title | Commencement Date | Date of Gazettal | Media Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Designation | 10 Dec 2008 | 10 Dec 2008 | 2008-28 |
| Access Regime (Compilation) | 3 Mar 2009 | 24 Feb 2009 Variation: 29 Aug 2012 |
2009-03 2012-24 |
| Exemption Number | Description | Commencement Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No 1 of 2009 | Arrangement between Cashcard Limited and Bank of Western Australia Limited in relation to Commonwealth Bank of Australia. | 16 Jul 2009 | |
| No 1 of 2012 | Arrangement among ATM industry participants in relation to ATM access for very remote Indigenous communities. | 29 Aug 2012 | |
| Consent in relation to Exemption No 1 of 2012 | 1 Dec 2017 | ||
| No 1 of 2017 | Arrangement between Indue Limited, Westpac Banking Corporation and DC Payments Limited in relation to balance enquiries by holders of Cashless Debit Cards | 1 Jan 2017 | |
| No 1 of 2021 | Exemption allowing ATM participants to enter into multiple one-way arrangements. | 19 Oct 2021 | |
| The Reserve Bank may grant an exemption to a participant in the ATM system from any or all of the requirements of paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Access Regime for the ATM System in accordance with paragraph 16 of the Access Regime. | |||