The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has re-authorised* minimum standards and procedures imposed by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) for the conduct and settlement of exchanges of ATM and EFTPOS payment instructions.
The ATM and EFTPOS clearing rules are contained within the Consumer Electronic Clearing System (CECS) Regulations and Manual and have been authorised by the ACCC since August 2000. As the authorisations were due to expire APCA sought re-authorisation** of the CECS rules on net public benefit grounds.
The decision affirms an earlier draft decision by the ACCC where it considered that the CECS rules provide public benefit through protecting the integrity and security of the ATM and EFTPOS networks. The collective setting of such rules through CECS also provides efficiency benefits.
While the rules restrict membership of CECS to clearing participants of the ATM and EFTPOS networks, therefore excluding most retailers, the ACCC noted that that there are provisions within CECS for the views of stakeholders that do not qualify for CECS membership to be taken into account.
The ACCC is also satisfied that there are provisions to ensure that the rules continue to be set at an appropriate level which is not detrimental to the growth and use of the ATM and EFTPOS networks.
Accordingly, the ACCC considers that the CECS Regulations and Manual continue to result in a net public benefit and has re-authorised the arrangements for a further five years.
The recent decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to designate the EFTPOS payment system under its legislation is not likely to impact the CECS arrangements.
The ACCC will, however, continue to monitor the reform process. Should any developments, for example the introduction of an EFTPOS access regime, give rise to inconsistencies in the CECS Regulations and Manual in a way that impacted on the net public benefits of the CECS arrangements, the ACCC may need to review the authorisation.