The Reserve Bank of Australia has called for more clarity in planning for the decommissioning of the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (Becs), arguing that the industry is yet to arrive at a shared vision of the desired features of account-to-account payments in Australia and that there has been insufficient industry coordination, planning and certainty regarding the transition.
Australians rely on Becs for a wide range of critical payments, including welfare, pension, salary, and bill payments. While Becs has been in operation as a highly reliable system for more than 30 years, significant changes are needed to keep it fit for purpose.
In its 2023 Strategic Plan for Australia’s Payments System, the Commonwealth Treasury expressed its support for an industry-led, phased transition away from Becs, floating 2030 as a potential target date.
The Strategic Plan also noted the challenges that industry would need to address in migrating bulk payments made by business and government from Becs, and the need for large business and government users who have embedded Becs into their processes to be supported.
A risk assessment conducted by the central bank says that the industry needs to define a vision for the target future state and strategic objectives for account-to-account payments in Australia, and should "comprehensively consider alternative options" for achieving that target future state.
RBA’s Payments System Board, assistant governor Brad Jones notes: "As a serious disruption to account-to-account payments has the potential to undermine confidence in the financial system, any change programme of this magnitude must be orderly and well-coordinated. This requires industry to establish a clear vision of the future target state, carefully weigh options for getting there, and incorporate end user needs and public interest considerations right from the outset."
The recommendations are steps that the RBA expects industry to address with "priority and urgency".
States the bank: "This will necessitate some degree of reprioritisation to ensure the intended benefits of any transition in account-to-account payment rails are achieved and contingencies are appropriately considered."