Australia Seeks Answers About Online-Payments Progress

The
Australian Payments Clearing Association says it will decide  later
this month whether the country's payments industry has made progress in
offering consumers more choices for online payments. The association,
which is owned by financial institutions and sets rules for clearing
and settlement of payments, hopes to release its final decision on 21
Aug., according to a statement this week from the group. The
association's actions follow a threat earlier this year from the
Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank, that it might
use its regulatory powers to force more standardization and innovation
in the country's electronic-payments infrastructure (CardLine Global,
26 March). Australia's electronic-payment system "has essentially
remained unchanged since its establishment in the 1980s," Glenn
Stevens, the central bank's governor, said during a speech at the time.
"Left to their own devices, [payment] networks may stop short of an
efficient level of cooperation," Stevens said.  (Continue Reading)

Editor's Note:  Speaking of "left to their own devices"...it's time to allow consumers to be left to theirs!