At its June 2026 meeting, the Payments System Board discussed emerging risks from advances in classical and quantum computing and approaches to strengthening cryptographic protections in card payments, alongside the full assessment of RITS. The Board also discussed unmet payment needs, digital money and the Advanced Encryption Standard.

The Account-to-Account Payments Roundtable, comprising AusPayNet, AP+, the RBA and Treasury, closed public consultation on its draft A2A vision on 22 May 2026, with the final vision expected by mid-2026. The vision will inform an industry roadmap prioritising and sequencing deliverables, including the future of BECS, with no revised BECS end-date set pending the roadmap outcome.

The RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre released the Project Acacia final report in May 2026, examining how digital money and new settlement infrastructure built on distributed ledger technology can support tokenised asset markets in Australia. The RBA is considering next steps to support responsible innovation following the findings.

In the 12 months to 30 June 2025, fraud on Australian payment cards decreased from $868 million to $854 million, with the overall card fraud rate also declining. AusPayNet highlights that overseas card fraud remains the key ongoing threat, with further industry effort required to mitigate it.

The Federal Court ordered record civil penalties totalling $300.2 million against collapsed CFD issuer Union Standard International Group and its former authorised representatives EuropeFX and TradeFred for systemic unconscionable conduct. The orders have been temporarily stayed until 13 July 2026 and represent the largest civil penalty in ASIC's history.

ASIC overhauled its advertising framework for financial products and services via an updated Regulatory Guide 234 on 9 June 2026, and separately clarified its transitional enforcement approach to the incoming prohibition on superannuation fund advertising during employee onboarding, effective 1 July 2026. The ban is specific to workplace onboarding and does not apply to general public advertising, with exemptions for MySuper products, employer default funds and an employee's existing fund.

ASIC's progress review report REP 831 found that five of the ten superannuation trustees under review had not identified a single systemic issue from complaints data analysis across a period when overall complaints were rising. ASIC warned that ongoing weaknesses in death benefit claims handling risk undermining confidence in the industry's readiness to service Australia's ageing population.

APRA has finalised a more accessible internal ratings-based (IRB) accreditation pathway for banks seeking to calculate credit risk-weighted assets using internal models, currently restricted to six of the largest banks. The new pathway is expected to appeal to mid-tier institutions such as Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and larger mutual banks.

APRA confirmed it will implement the reporting template for longevity capital treatment with no amendments following consultation, as no industry submissions were received. The reforms take effect 1 July 2026, and life companies intending to adopt the Advanced Illiquidity Premium from that date must contact their APRA supervisor in advance.

Australian Payments Plus has formally confirmed that a zero-surcharge limit will apply to eftpos transactions from 1 October 2026, aligning with the RBA's broader surcharging reform conclusions and the amended RBA Standards. AP+ has notified eftpos acquiring banks and their merchants of the requirement.

Volt and Trade Nation have gone live with real-time account-to-account payments for Australian retail traders via the NPP, delivered through Volt's partner Praxis with bank-grade infrastructure. The partnership intends to expand to a one-click PayTo experience in Australia and extend instant payment capabilities to the UK and EU.

From 13 July 2026, large non-bank lenders and BNPL providers will be subject to Consumer Data Right obligations, requiring product data sharing from go-live and consumer data sharing in four phases through to September 2027. The expansion brings non-bank data under the same security and privacy standards that apply to authorised deposit-taking institutions.

Following the release of a significant PSP licensing reform consultation package in March 2026 and the close of submissions on 9 April 2026, the Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2026 (Payments) is progressing toward introduction in Parliament. The reforms represent a fundamental reshaping of how payment service providers are regulated in Australia, with Tranche 2 considerations including access and industry standards to follow.

The BIS released findings from Project Agorá on 27 May 2026 confirming that tokenising central bank reserves alongside commercial bank deposits can enable atomic, round-the-clock multi-currency settlement for wholesale cross-border payments. The project involved seven central banks and 40 financial institutions and found that the approach could significantly improve the speed and reliability of cross-border payments.

The ECB's call for payment service providers to participate in its digital euro pilot closed on 14 May 2026, with selection now focused on ensuring representative coverage of the euro area by size, geography and market reach. The pilot builds toward the digital euro's prospective launch and will generate real-world operational data on PSP integration with a central bank digital currency.

Project Nexus, led by the BIS with central banks from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and India, expanded in February 2026 to include Indonesia, with Nexus Global Payments appointing its first Board Chair ahead of a planned 2026 go-live. The platform processes cross-border retail payments within 60 seconds by standardising connections between national instant payment systems.

A US federal judge granted preliminary approval to the US$38 billion Visa and Mastercard interchange fee settlement on 9–10 June 2026, resolving longstanding merchant claims of overcharging on swipe fees. Final approval proceedings are expected to follow, marking a potentially decisive conclusion to one of the most significant antitrust disputes in card payments history.

New York DFS Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow announced proposed regulations on 9 June 2026 to harmonise New York's stablecoin framework with the new federal GENIUS Act requirements for US dollar-backed stablecoin issuance. The move positions New York DFS to seek certification as a compliant state-level regulator under the federal framework.

Money20/20 Europe 2026 in Amsterdam was dominated by M&A consolidation themes, including Global Payments' US$24.25 billion acquisition of Worldpay and Mollie's €1.05 billion acquisition of GoCardless. A key forward-looking theme was the eIDAS 2.0 requirement for all EU governments to make certified digital identity wallets available to citizens by November 2026, with banks and payment institutions required to accept them for strong customer authentication.