The RBA Is Why Your Credit Card Surcharge Fees Are So High
The Reserve Bank’s position on payment system fees is a mess.
As Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn told parliament this week, the way the RBA regulates payment system fees unbalances the competitive dynamic between banks, credit card networks and the global tech players that now also offer payment services. The domestic banks feel that they’re being penalised while international players are left alone.
But competitive unfairness is the virtually unavoidable result of the RBA’s regulatory philosophy. For over 20 years, the central bank has been trying to micromanage how merchants and banks charge each other and consumers for access to credit and debit card payments. And it has found itself playing a constant game of whack-a-mole with an evolving payment system while trying to clean up the unintended consequences of its own regulatory choices.