A2A Payments Roundtable Releases Vision for Account-to-Account Payments in Australia

Media Release A2A Payments Roundtable Releases Vision for Account-to-Account Payments in Australia
Sydney, 8 July 2026 – The Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments Roundtable has today released its A2A payments vision, incorporating feedback from a public consultation and ongoing engagements with a broad range of end-users and other stakeholders on Australia’s A2A payments system.
The Roundtable brings together Australian Payments Network Limited (AusPayNet), Australian Payments Plus (AP+), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Commonwealth Treasury.1
The vision sets out the long-term direction for Australia’s A2A payments system:
A trusted account-to-account payments system that meets the evolving needs of consumers, businesses and government agencies, supporting resilience, competition, innovation and productivity in the Australian economy.
A2A payments are foundational to Australia’s economy, supporting millions of transactions every day – including the payment of wages, superannuation, welfare, bills and taxes, and transfers of money to family and friends. As the environment for payments changes rapidly – driven by advances in technology, increased fraud and cyber threats, and shifting end-user expectations – the vision provides a clear and enduring reference point for the future development of A2A payments in Australia.
The vision is centred on five outcomes that A2A payments must deliver for consumers, businesses and government agencies (end-users): that they are safe, reliable, affordable, easy to use and inclusive. To consistently deliver these outcomes, the vision defines six characteristics the A2A payments system must demonstrate – that it is secure and protected; highly available and resilient; feature and capability rich; accessible for providers; commercially viable; and appropriately standardised. These characteristics should be supported by clear, collaborative and adaptable governance arrangements that ensure the A2A payments system remains a trusted national asset operating in the public interest.
What we heard
The vision has been shaped by extensive engagement, including workshops, bilateral discussions and a recent public consultation that attracted submissions from across the payments ecosystem. Feedback showed strong support for the direction of the vision, with stakeholders – including banks, payment service providers, fintechs, technology companies, merchants, industry bodies and government agencies – consistently backing a shared national vision, stronger A2A capability and the modernisation of Australia’s payments infrastructure. Submissions also made clear stakeholders are keen to understand how the vision will be delivered – including prioritisation, sequencing and governance – which will be addressed through the A2A payments roadmap.
A summary of consultation feedback, setting out how the vision has been refined in response to the feedback received, has been published alongside the A2A payments vision.
Next steps
With the A2A payments vision finalised, the focus now shifts to the development of the A2A payments roadmap. The roadmap will define the way forward for achieving the vision, including high-level deliverables, implementation timelines, and associated governance and coordination arrangements. A shared roadmap will help underpin competition, innovation, and resilience across the payments ecosystem, giving banks, payment service providers and scheme operators a clear foundation on which to build products and services. To support the development of the roadmap, structured mechanisms have been established to seek input and feedback from banks, payment service providers, end-users and other stakeholders during the process.
The final vision report, along with a summary of consultation feedback, and all submissions received through the public consultation (unless confidentiality was requested by the respondent), can be found on the dedicated webpage www.a2apayments.com.au.
Appendix
Endnotes
1 The roundtable process is being conducted under the authorisation granted by the ACCC (with conditions) on 1 August 2025.
Enquiries
Communications Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY
Phone: +61 2 9551 8111
Email:
rbainfo@rba.gov.au