House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into Schemes, Digital Wallets and Innovation in the Payments Sector

02/24/2026

Remarks by Alan Machet, Group Country Manager, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands for Visa
 

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the Committee for the opportunity to appear today. Visa has provided a submission to the Committee as part of the Inquiry and, in my opening remarks, I’d like to briefly touch on three areas. Firstly, what Visa does and the value we deliver to Australian consumers and businesses. Second, the changing payments landscape and what we’re doing to ensure continued investment in security and innovation. And finally, the competitive landscape we operate in and our commitment to supporting a world-class payments system in Australia. 

As a global payment network, Visa operates the technology enabling money to move digitally between consumers, businesses and financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories. Today Australians tap or click to pay, trusting their transactions will be fast and secure, with Visa’s Zero Liability and chargeback rules protecting consumers. When Australian airline Bonza stopped operations in 2024, unlike consumers who paid for flights using direct debit, Visa cardholders were able to secure refunds. 

Through Visa, businesses access a global customer base, new payment innovations and cutting-edge fraud tools, helping them operate more efficiently and driving economic productivity. And behind every split-second transaction is Visa’s global network, operating 24/7 and processing up to 83,000 transactions per second. Importantly, it’s our financial institution and fintech clients who issue Visa cards, set interest rates and customer fees, and compete on cardholder benefits. Acquiring financial institutions set up businesses to accept card payments and charge accordingly. My role and that of my team in Australia is to support our local clients through sales and marketing.

I want to touch on the changing landscape as this inquiry comes at an important time. Advances in technology and computing power are reshaping the future of payments. AI, agentic commerce, account to account payments, and stablecoins are expanding choice and accessibility. These carry substantial upside for Australians, but only if continued innovation, security, and consumer and business protection remain core. Within the next decade, quantum computing will move into the mainstream — unlocking opportunities for businesses, but also empowering cybercriminals. Many are already preparing with a “harvest now, decrypt later” strategy to exploit today’s data with tomorrow’s quantum power.  We’ve invested 15 billion dollars in technology and innovation over 5 years to ensure we stay future ready, and now is not the time to pull back on investment.

Finally, I want to address the competitive landscape. Today we compete with a broad set of payment companies, including three-party networks like American Express, digital wallets and BNPL providers who – despite being key participants in the digital payments system – currently operate outside regulation. Our pricing, known as scheme fees, is paid by financial institution and fintech clients. They reflect the benefits we deliver managing the security, reliability and global reach of Visa’s network and represent only a small component of the total cost a business pays its financial institution.

We recognize small business face challenges, and our refreshed small business program provides access to some of the lowest payment acceptance costs in the country. That program offers preferential interchange rates to financial institutions and fintechs who support small business growth on the Visa network. 

With balanced policy settings that enable innovation, Australia’s payment system will remain globally competitive, continuing to deliver best in class payment experiences that benefit consumers, businesses and the broader economy. Thank you for the opportunity to appear and I would be happy to answer any questions you have.