In brief
In March 2022, Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) published a response to submissions received to its consultation on review of the ePayments Code. In its response, ASIC proposed various revisions to the current voluntary code, including that scam payments will no longer be regarded as “mistaken internet payments” and reporting requirements for unauthorized transactions will change.
The ePayments Code (Code) is a voluntary code of practice that regulates electronic payments including automatic teller machine (ATM) transactions, online payments, EFTPOS transactions, credit/debit card transactions and internet and mobile banking. ASIC is responsible for both administering and reviewing the Code.
The main objective of ASIC’s review is to clarify specific areas of the Code, and to modernize it. ASIC has made the proposal to extend the scope of the Code to New Payments Platform (NPP). In light of industry feedback, ASIC’s response is to extend the Code specifically to NPP and Bulk Electronic Clearing System (‘BECS‘), and will not make the Code to be platform neutral. While it is recognized this will reduce flexibility as new platforms emerge, it will prevent other frameworks from inadvertently being captured.
A significant change to the updated Code will also be the clarification that:
- the definition of ‘mistaken authorized internet payment’ will only cover mistakes in inputting the account identified and…
