The Reserve bank of Australia is looking to cap the costs of POS terminal provision on the high street as part of an ongoing series of reforms aimed at stimulating competition in the domestic payments market.
The central bank has issued proposals for a new 'Access Regime', which would limit the costs imposed on newcomers for linking up to other banks in the Eftpos market. The RBA says the proposed code also contains provisions that ensure that "negotiations over interchange fees cannot be used to frustrate entry".
Currently only eight banks and financial companies have Eftpos machines in shops around Australia, due to the high cost and complexity of entering the market.
The Australian central bank has been engaged in a long-running programme of reforms to the domestic payments market. It says the new Access regime will complement the Eftpos Access Code developed by the Australian Payments Clearing Assocation on behalf of the nation's banks.
Separately, MasterCard has indicated that it will voluntarily conform with standards dealing with interchange fees and the 'honour all cards' rule recently imposed upon the Visa Debit system as it looks to develop its own debit programme.