ob体育 has amended ob体育 Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211 to remove an expiry date that would have seen the instrument cease operating in March 2019.
The amendment means that the instrument will continue to operate beyond March 2019.
ob体育 Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211 provides relief for the following types of non-cash payment products:
- travellers鈥� cheques, which are exempt from the聽requirement to provide confirmation of transaction under the Corporations聽Act;
- loyalty schemes and road toll facilities, which are not subject to the financial services laws in the Corporations Act;
- prepaid mobile arrangements and some single use gift vouchers, which are exempt from the licensing, conduct and disclosure 聽聽聽聽 obligations in the Corporations Act; and
- low value payment products, which are exempt from the聽licensing, conduct and disclosure obligations in the Corporations Act but聽are subject to alternative disclosure and dispute resolution obligations.
ob体育 originally provided this relief because it was apparent that the financial services regulatory regime was unintentionally broad in relation to these products.
ob体育 is extending the operational period of the relief given in ob体育 Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211 to allow for Government policy settings for retail payments products to be clarified by Treasury, ob体育, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Once the Government鈥檚 policy settings have been clarified, ob体育 will undertake a review of ob体育 Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) 2016/211 (and the guidance in Regulatory Guide 185 Non-cash payment facilities) to determine whether the instrument is operating effectively and appropriately.
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Background
The 2014 Financial System Inquiry considered the policy settings underpinning the regulation of non-cash payment facilities. The final report of the FSI recommended that the Government:
- enhance graduation of retail payments regulation by clarifying thresholds for regulation by ob体育 and the Australian Prudential 聽聽聽聽 Regulation Authority (APRA)
- strengthen consumer protection by mandating the ePayments Code,聽and
- introduce a separate prudential regime with two tiers for purchased payment facilities.
On 24 September 2018 the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) released an Issues Paper Review of Retail Payments Regulation: Stored-value Facilities as part of its review into the regulatory regime for 鈥榮tored value facilities鈥�, which are payment products that allow users to pre-load money for future purchases.
The CFR鈥檚 review follows recommendations relating retail payments regulation in the final report of the 2014 Financial System Inquiry and the Productivity Commission鈥檚 2018 report following its Inquiry into Competition in the Australian Financial System. The CFR intends to provide recommendations to streamline and enhance regulation while ensuring appropriate consumer protections. A copy of the Issues Paper can be found on the .