Key regulatory updates and product developments in the payments industry
The payments industry is transforming rapidly. Being one of the fastest growing areas in the financial services industry, keeping pace and understanding the key developments and products is essential.
We've created a timeline that highlights all the major developments and products since 2013 and will continue to update as further changes come into play.
2021
REGULATORY UPDATES
OCTOBER: DDO Regime will commence
MARCH: AFIA released the BNPL Code of Conduct. This is a voluntary code designed by industry participants as a form of self-regulation, in response to recommendations made by the Australian Government Report Regarding Financial Hardship
FEBRUARY: UK Financial Conduct Authority published the Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market. The FCA concluded that ‘the unregulated BNPL market poses potential harms to consumers and needs to be brought within regulation to both protect consumers and ensure it is sustainable’
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
JUNE: PayPal announces that it will launch its own BNPL platform in June 2021
PRODUCT RELEASE: Pay Pay Pay in 4
MARCH: Commonwealth Bank launched its own BNPL platform (in addition to Klarna)
PRODUCT RELEASE: Commonwealth Bank
2020
REGULATORY UPDATES
NOVEMBER: ASIC Report 672 on BNPL released. This report considered the industry growth and regulation of BNPL
OCTOBER: Government review of Australia’s Payment Systems announced. The Committee was tasked to review the current FinTech and RegTech markets to ensure the payments system remains fit for purpose. The report will be released in March 2021
MARCH: Reserve Bank Consumer Payments Survey showed that the majority of respondents had a high awareness of BNPL as a means of payment
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
OCTOBER: Westpac launched ‘Banking-as-a-service’ platform and announced partnership with Afterpay
PRODUCT RELEASE: Westpac & Afternav
SEPTEMBER: NAB launched the StraightUp card. This is Australia’s first interest-free credit card
PRODUCT RELEASE: StraightUp Card
2019
REGULATORY UPDATES
DECEMBER:AFIA announced it would develop the BNPL industry code of practice in response to ASIC's Report 600 and the Government's report
APRIL: ASIC granted a Product Intervention Power in relation to BNPL products
APRIL: Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019 (Cth), granting ASIC a Product Intervention Power in relation to BNPL products and bringing BNPL within the scope of the DDO Regime
FEBRUARY: Australian Government Report regarding Financial Hardship released. It made several recommendations about BNPL, including introduction of a regulatory framework to better protect consumers in financial hardship
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
AUGUST: Commonwealth Bank invested $100 million for a stake in Swedish FinTech Klarna. This is the first major investment by an Australian bank in BNPL
PRODUCT RELEASE: Klarna
2018
REGULATORY UPDATES
NOVEMBER: ASIC Report 600 released. The report was a review of BNPL and suggested that ASIC’s product intervention power be extended to cover BNPL
AUGUST: ASIC 2018–2022 Corporate Plan released. This included a focus on review of the structure and potential harms associated with BNPL
PRODUCTS
PRODUCT RELEASE: Humm
PRODUCT RELEASE: Oxipay
PRODUCT RELEASE: Zip Pay
2015
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
APRIL: Afterpay launches in Australia in April. It featured an interest-free loan product, that is not regulated credit, and a model of merchant surcharging and distribution. Similar BNPL products follow soon after.
PRODUCT RELEASE: BrightePay
PRODUCT RELEASE: Afterpay
2013
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
From 2013, products with ‘BNPL like’ features are on the market. For example, interest-free loans (Certegy) or loans provided through merchants (Openpay)
PRODUCT RELEASE: Zip Money
PRODUCT RELEASE: Openpay
PRODUCT RELEASE: Certegy