Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998
Explanatory Statement - Revocation of the Access Regime for the Visa Debit System
Purpose and Effect
The Access Regime for the Visa Debit System (Visa Debit Access Regime) was originally imposed to address concerns expressed by Visa about the interaction of its international rules and the Access Regime for the Visa credit card system and in particular, to ensure that Specialist Credit Card Institutions (SCCIs) were eligible to join the Visa system to provide services to merchants accepting both Visa credit and debit cards. The Visa Debit Access Regime overrode (in Australia) Visa’s international rules which might otherwise have prevented some SCCIs from joining the Visa system. Due to changes in Visa’s international rules, the Visa Debit Access Regime is no longer required and is therefore being revoked.
Consultation
The Reserve Bank of Australia (the Bank) initiated a public consultation on the Access Regimes applying to the MasterCard credit and the Visa credit and Visa Debit systems in May 2013, releasing Review of Card System Access Regimes: A Consultation Document. The Bank sought the views of interested parties on three policy options: varying the Access Regimes to expand eligibility to a wider range of entities, revoking the Access Regimes and maintaining the status quo. The Bank also sought views on a number of questions related to the risks faced by card schemes and their members, how they should be addressed and the shape and potential effect of possible revised access arrangements.
Taking into account views expressed by stakeholders, the Bank released Proposed Variation to the MasterCard and Visa Access Regimes: Consultation Document in December 2013 and began a second round of consultation. The December 2013 document refined the three options outlined in the May 2013 paper, with more detailed consideration of how each option could be implemented. The document also included draft variations to the Access Regimes for the option viewed by the Bank’s Payments System Board (the PSB) as best serving the public interest. The PSB’s in-principle decision on the Access Regimes, Payment Card Access Regimes: Conclusions, was published on 7 March 2014 (the Conclusions document). In the Conclusions document, the PSB indicated that the Bank had asked Visa to investigate whether an Access Regime remained necessary for the Visa Debit system, and that if Visa indicated that it was no longer required, the Visa Debit Access Regime would be revoked.
Consultation Documents
Further information regarding the consultation process undertaken by the Bank may be found in the following documents:
- RBA (2014), Variation to the MasterCard and Visa Access Regimes: Details-stage Regulation Impact Statement, March.
Available at < http://www.rba.gov.au/payments-system/reforms/cc-schemes/201403-impact-stmt/index.html>
- RBA (2014), Payment Card Access Regimes: Conclusions, March.
Available at <http://www.rba.gov.au/payments-system/reforms/cc-schemes/201403-impact-stmt/conclusions/index.html>
- RBA (2013), Proposed Variations to the MasterCard and Visa Access Regimes: Consultation Document, December.
Available at < http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/consultations/20131206-prop-variations-to-mc-visa-access-regimes/index.html>
- RBA (2013), Review of Card System Access Regimes: A Consultation Document, March.
Available at < http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/consultations/201305-review-card-sys-access-regimes/index.html>
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY
15 December 2014