Australia Post is to apply to national financial regulatory agency Apra for a license to process debit and credit cards, according to local press reports.
Financial services now represents a big chunk of business for Australia Post, generating annual revenue of more than $300 million. With its own payments processing license, the government-owned utility will be able to reduce the cost of acepting card-based payments and expand its over-the-counter bill payment service.
The head of Australia Post's financial services division Terry Stephens told reporters that the corporation wanted to expand its role in the local credit card and debit card markets.
Post will likely be required to set aside at least $3 million of regulatory capital to support the move, but is set to make savings of approximately $30 million per annum in fees.
So far, only a handful of non-banks, including MoneySwitch Limited and GE Capital, have secured card payments licences.