Highlights from 2019 AusPayNet Summit

18 December 2019

Our Summit on 10 December 2019 was a sell-out event bringing together over 300 local and international experts. Themed ‘Payments – the key to the best customer outcomes’, this significant event in the payments calendar sparked lively debate and compelling discussion.

The importance of debate

AusPayNet Chair, Rob Craig, opened the day by encouraging debate and participation to uncover issues that need an industry-wide focus. He quoted French essayist Joseph Joubert, “It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it”, noting that this plays to AusPayNet’s strength in driving progress through collaboration.

It was a neat segue to the Reserve Bank Governor, Philip Lowe’s keynote address on ‘A Payments System for the Digital Economy’. The Governor noted the substantial progress made by the industry in ensuring the payments system supports the digital economy stating that in some areas, “Australia's payments system is world class”. He also highlighted areas where more progress is needed, touching on the importance of innovation, digital identity and resilience.

Innovation and collaboration

John Chaplin continued the Governor’s theme of a digital economy in his presentation on domestic innovation within a global digital landscape, emphasising the importance of industry collaboration for delivering better customer outcomes. The message was echoed in sessions throughout the day, including:

• Transport/Open Loop - Transport NSW’s Anne Kinsella outlined collaboration with the payments industry for open-loop payments, an enabler of ticketing innovation and a convenient, alternative way for customers to pay for transport. She also highlighted the importance of APIs, and their work with Uber on solving the first and last mile of public transport in the most seamless ways.
• In the fireside chat with Australian Payments Council Chair Robert Milliner, the Hon. Senator Jane Hume noted the need to align with international standards and the opportunity for Australia to lead the way. She also commented on the importance of the Senate select committee which will be looking at, among other issues, the implementation of open banking.
• Panellists in the Black Hatting Security session highlighted the need to consider the end-to-end payments value chain when thinking about security, certification and standards.

The innovation highlight was the engaging ‘big debate’ with academics, technologists and the regulator discussing the motion ‘Australia is ready for digital currency innovation such as Libra’. Both sides presented thought-provoking arguments, with a live poll of the audience revealing that we’re not quite ready - yet.

Unsurprisingly, innovation was also a key theme at our roundtables on AI, BYOD (bring your own device), Cloud, Trust, the NPP, and ISO 20022.

Read our full report on our Summit here.