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A transition period is looming as regulators seek to redefine the structure and governance of account-to-account (A2A) payments, aiming to update the country’s ageing infrastructure and embed competition and interoperability requirements.
The consultation is the latest step in a coordinated effort by regulators and industry to prepare for a system-wide transition.
It was co-developed and published by the A2A Payments Roundtable, a group that includes the Treasury, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet) and Australian Payments Plus (AP+).
The draft vision sets out high-level objectives for the A2A system, with key goals including maintaining the safety, reliability, low cost, and ease of use of A2A payments across consumer, business and government use cases.
The document does not prescribe specific technologies, delivery models or timelines, but is intended to inform the development of a key industry roadmap, which will also be published in 2026.
The roadmap will define the prioritisation and sequencing of industry deliverables, consistent with public interest considerations.
According to the consultation, this will include milestones, timelines and transition strategies, as well as governance arrangements and stakeholder responsibilities.
It is also expected to address interoperability between existing payment systems and define how competing systems will be managed across the industry.
Once finalised, execution of the roadmap is expected to begin in 2027. This is a critical milestone for compliance teams, as it will see the implementation of a new regulatory layer for interoperability and public interest obligations that could see private systems treated more like utility providers.
A2A payments support millions of daily transactions in Australia, including the payment of wages, welfare, bills and superannuation contributions.
The consultation frames the A2A system as a “trusted national asset” and emphasises the need for it to evolve in response to technological change and shifting user expectations.
Submissions are open until May 22, 2026, and a finalised vision will be published later this year.
Competition law framework shapes coordination
The A2A Payments Roundtable that is leading the development of the roadmap operates under an authorisation from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The authorisation was granted in August 2025 and is valid until the end of January 2027. It allows participants in the Roundtable to share information and reach in-principle agreement on the future of A2A payments infrastructure.
However, the authorisation is limited to coordination and planning. The execution of the roadmap is expected to require industry governance and coordination mechanisms, subject to ACCC authorisation.
This distinction establishes a two-stage process: an initial phase focused on consensus-building and roadmap development, followed by a later phase in which proposed changes are subject to further regulatory scrutiny.
The ACCC’s involvement should ensure that the “Big Four” Australian banks cannot dictate the transition to the exclusion of fintechs.
The second phase of the process will likely see the Commission demand open-access guarantees in exchange for approving the final roadmap execution.
Legacy infrastructure under review
Although the draft vision does not specify particular infrastructure changes, the broader process is closely linked to the future of the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), Australia’s longstanding A2A payments rail.
BECS currently supports a wide range of critical payment flows, including salaries, welfare and recurring bill payments.
However, it operates on a batch-processing model and lacks features available in newer systems, such as real-time settlement, enhanced data capabilities and confirmation of payee (CoP) functionality.
AusPayNet, the self-regulatory body of the Australian payments industry, had initially set a target end-date for the decommissioning of BECS of June 2030.
In December 2025, however, AusPayNet scrapped the target end-date, citing patchy industry readiness, ongoing costs, lack of viable alternative systems and limited awareness among users.
An earlier RBA risk assessment, published in March 2025, had also warned of a “disorderly transition” under the original deadline.
As AusPayNet announced in December 2025, no new end-date for the BECS wind-down will be set until the industry roadmap for A2A payments has been agreed.
BECS’ replacement, the New Payments Platform (NPP), is not yet able to cope with the massive batch processing of payroll and government welfare that BECS handles daily.
Despite these limitations, industry participants continue to assess the role of the NPP in supporting bulk A2A payments over time.
Unlike BECS, the NPP enables near real-time payments, richer data exchange and the use of CoP. As of July 2024, more than one third of all A2A payments in Australia were processed using the NPP.
The removal of the 2030 deadline likely creates increased costs for the industry, with firms required to fund the indefinite maintenance of BECS while also paying for the development of the NPP’s bulk processing capabilities
Despite the delay to the decommissioning of BECS, compliance departments should not pause their migration plans. Instead, they should pivot towards hybrid readiness, as the 2026 roadmap will likely mandate a phased migration rather than set a cliff edge.
Technology trends add complexity
The consultation also highlights the role that developments in artificial intelligence (AI), digital identity, digital wallets and digital assets are set to play in shaping the evolution of Australia’s A2A payments system.
It notes that AI may enable payments to be initiated automatically based on user preferences and contextual data.
Similarly, digital identity systems are expected to play an increasing role in authentication and fraud prevention, potentially requiring interoperability across multiple identity providers.
Digital wallets are evolving into platforms that integrate payments, identity and other financial services, and tokenised forms of money may introduce new settlement models alongside traditional account-based systems.
The RBA may be signalling that the current Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework, which allows consumers to safely share the data that businesses hold about them, may be insufficient in the face of advancing tech. This could be where CoP plays a more important role in fraud prevention as the ecosystem evolves.
Governance and accountability in focus
Alongside infrastructure considerations, the consultation places emphasis on governance, coordination and performance measurement.
The future roadmap is expected to include mechanisms for monitoring progress against defined success metrics, supported by reporting processes embedded within industry governance structures.
This approach suggests a model in which accountability is driven not only by formal regulation, but also by transparency and industry-wide benchmarking.
Compressed timeline for industry alignment
The consultation forms part of a broader process that began in 2025 with interim authorisation from the ACCC for the Roundtable to begin preparatory work.
A series of Roundtable meetings has since been held, bringing together industry participants and stakeholders. With the final vision expected in mid-2026 and the roadmap to follow later in the year, the timeline for agreement on key design and transition issues is relatively short.
For firms operating within Australia’s payments ecosystem, the consultation signals a period of accelerated change, with decisions taken in the near term likely to shape the structure and governance of A2A payments for years to come.
The current consultation may be the final opportunity for firms to influence the 2027 transition. With the RBA and Treasury in lockstep, taking a “wait and see” approach to A2A modernisation is no longer a viable compliance strategy.
