Cards

Payment cards have overtaken cash as the most frequently used payment method in Australia.

Debit cards and credit cards are the most common payment method used by Australians today.

Most in-person payments are ‘contactless’, online shopping is increasingly popular and mobile payments are gaining traction.

Financial institutions issue debit cards and credit cards supported by the international card schemes (Visa, MasterCard), as well as debit cards supported by the domestic debit card scheme, eftpos Payments Australia. Charge cards are issued by American Express, Diners Club, JCB and others.

Dual-network debit cards have point-of-sale debit functionality from the domestic debit card scheme network and an international card scheme network. Merchants are able to send a dual-network contactless debit card transaction via the debit network of their choice, for example, because that network offers the lower cost for that transaction.

More information about merchant routing is available here.

Combatting online card fraud remains a key focus for financial institutions and card schemes.

The Issuers and Acquirers Community (IAC) brings together a wide range of participants in the card payment system.

Innovation

The IAC is the home for industry-wide innovation and security in card payments. A current initiative is ‘open-loop’ contactless payments for transit. This allows commuters to use their own payment card (or device, such as a smart phone or wearable) to tap on and off, instead of an Opal card (closed-loop). We were instrumental in developing the framework for the contactless payments trial launched by Transport NSW in July 2017. We are now preparing Version 4 of the framework, which is scheduled for release at the end of 2019.

Security

Our device evaluation and approval process provides strong protection for cardholders' sensitive card data, including their PINs, by ensuring that all payment devices in Australia meet best practice security standards.

Mitigating fraud

With online card fraud now accounting for 85% of all fraud on Australian cards, combatting card-not-present (CNP) fraud remains a key focus for financial institutions and card schemes. Through the IAC, we are coordinating industry-wide efforts. Most recently, on 1 July 2019, we implemented the CNP Fraud Mitigation Framework.

Previous initiatives include:

guidelines for issuers and acquirers outlining best practice for fraud detection, customer authentication, and data security.
campaigns to create awareness of CNP fraud and prevention measures among merchants.

Other campaigns to mitigate card fraud include:

Other Resources

See more on cards

Rules and Regulations

Open Loop Transport