Today is the day

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Payments Systems Board will making a final decision to accept a number of recommendations on payments system reform.

The decision will be handed down on May 20.

Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman said he wants to see high cost cards reigned in to relieve merchants.

“The ARA has been working with the RBA seeking to have merchant fees reduced and aiming to have companion cards regulated.

"We are hopeful that we will see the RBA accept previous recommendations when they meet this Friday."

Zimmerman said there are flaws in the current system which are unlikely to be addressed.

He claimed the largest of these is the lack of regulation of new payment systems coming on to the market.

He cited American Express, Diners' Club and China Union Pay among these.

These excessive fees are forcing many retailers pass these higher costs onto their customers by surcharging, he claimed.

“It is heartening that - at least in this case - the RBA is looking to reign for those selected few high cost cards which would otherwise continue to cost merchants more."

His claims come despite the boom in Chinese retail spending, with Union Pay among the leading methods of transacting.

In 2015, China was Australia’s second largest inbound market for visitor arrivals and the largest market for total expenditure and visitor nights.

Visitors from China generated $8.3 billion in total expenditure in 2015.

The Tourism 2020 Strategy estimates that China has the potential to be worth up to $13 billion in total expenditure by 2020.