The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is to review Australia’s ePayments Code and has released a consultation paper to encourage community input.
In a statement, ASIC said the review aimed to ensure the code continued to be effective and relevant to consumers and subscribers.
“The review will focus on testing the effectiveness of the code in complaints handling; unauthorised transactions; data reporting, and mistaken internet payments,” ASIC said.
“The review will also consider options for future-proofing the code.
“Since our previous comprehensive review of the code in December 2010, there have been significant developments in the payments environment.”
It said these included changes to the ways consumers made payments (with the declining use of cash and the increasing availability and use of mobile payments technology).
“The current wording of the ePayments Code may not adequately cater for these developments, and this may have implications for the code’s ongoing effectiveness and relevance,” the Commission said.
“Another area that we would like to explore is the extent to which the Code’s protections should be available to small business consumers.”
ASIC said it would use the feedback to consider whether and in what ways the Code needed to be amended.
It said the consultation paper was the first of two papers it planned to issue in 2019 on its review of the ePayments Code. The current paper sought feedback from stakeholders on the topics it proposed to consider as part of the review.
“We anticipate engaging further with stakeholders to help us develop more detailed proposals for a second, more substantive consultation paper later in 2019,” ASIC said.
Submissions are due by 5 April and the 35-page consultation paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
