This Month
Stand up to whinging gas giants
Readers’ letters on a controversial drawing in The Australian Financial Review, gas tax, replacing Jacinta Allan, and self-managed superannuation funds.
RBA calls for co-ordinated effort to unlock digital asset markets
A series of pilot transactions using digital assets drew a strong industry response, but the RBA says banks and regulators need to accelerate their efforts.
Payments player Pay.com.au hits the road(show) for $850m IPO
Meetings are taking place across Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland ahead of the April float.
Australian banks ramp up tax fight against Apple Pay, Google, Meta
Banks argue foreign rivals benefit from lower taxes and less regulation. They’re calling on the federal government to level the playing field.
February
‘Vanderbilts are back’: Husic raps Apple over payment market power
The tech giant faced a parliamentary committee on Tuesday as MPs compared its control over iPhone payments to 19th-century railroad monopolies.
Pay.com.au targets $800m April IPO; meetings under way
The Melbourne platform, which lets companies earn reward points for regular business purchases, met with potential backers on Tuesday amid early IPO preparations.
Banks lobby accuses Apple, credit card giants of payments free-ride
In a submission to parliament, the Australian Banking Association says the US companies are not paying tax and are using infrastructure with few obligations.
Union wage claims hit 6pc as inflation bites
Militant union ETU pushes for ambitious pay rises even as employers warn unions risk stoking further inflation.
January
Is Jack Zhang the next Elon Musk, or just really, really tired?
He’s one of the most polarising figures in Australian technology, and one of the most successful. Now the Airwallex founder faces his biggest year yet.
Visa in fight with Reserve Bank over plans to cut credit card fees
Banks and credit card companies are lobbying to convince the central bank to strike a compromise on plans to cut bank interchange fee revenue by $900 million.
Airwallex forced into audit over child sexual abuse funding fears
AUSTRAC said it was investigating after becoming concerned that the Melbourne-founded giant was not properly monitoring payments made on its platform.
‘Money mule’ risk just stopped Airwallex’s IPO march in its tracks
AUSTRAC chief Brendan Thomas is worried about the exposure of tech unicorn Airwallex to money mules, who use fake accounts to funnel child sex payments.
MA Financial backs US fintech to enter Australia
MA Financial Group has established a warehouse facility that can be ratcheted up to $100 million as Fundbox seeks to expand its operations.
CBA calls for RBA to use new power to force open Apple iPhone payments
The Reserve Bank was last year granted expanded powers over digital wallets such as Apple Pay. CBA, along with Labor MP Jerome Laxale, wants it to use them.
Airwallex demands critical coverage be pulled as it considers IPO
The Melbourne-founded, Singapore-headquartered payment unicorn wants unflattering coverage that relied on leaked, confidential information to be removed.
December 2025
Banks abandon plan to mothball a crucial payment system by 2030
Two years ago, banks set a deadline to decommission an ageing platform that facilitates trillions of dollars in transactions. That timeline has been thrown out.
Airwallex to splash $1.1b on UK base as it seeks global growth
Fresh off a huge $590 million funding round, the Melbourne fintech has pledged to invest more than $1 billion in the UK while rolling out new products.
November 2025
RBA could backtrack on plan to ban credit card surcharges
Minutes from the Payments System Board meeting show the central bank is also considering steps to appease the big banks’ concerns about interchange fees
Corporate rewards platform Pay.com.au hits $630m valuation, eyes ASX
The Melbourne small business payments business sees plenty of opportunity in the US, where its new funds will be used to support a big expansion.
The RBA is why your credit card surcharge fees are so high
It’s hard to give the Reserve Bank credit for resolving a problem of its own making. The no-surcharge prohibition should go down as a case study of regulatory mismanagement.
