Reserve Bank of Australia risk assessment finds BECS decommissioning lacks a shared target state and coordinated transition planning

The Reserve Bank of Australia has released a risk assessment of the payments industry’s proposed decommissioning of the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), concluding that industry has not yet agreed a shared vision for the desired features of Australia’s future account-to-account payments system and that coordination, planning and certainty around the transition have been insufficient. Given BECS’s role in critical payments such as welfare, pensions, salaries and bills, the RBA expects any migration to alternative rails to be orderly, safe and reliable. The assessment sets recommendations, including a set described as “foundational”: industry should define a target future state and strategic objectives for account-to-account payments in collaboration with the Government and the RBA, comprehensively consider options for achieving that end state, and then establish a transition plan with appropriate coordination and stakeholder engagement mechanisms. The RBA expects these steps to be addressed with priority and urgency, and will maintain oversight of transition activities by assessing industry implementation while supporting modernisation efforts by ensuring public interest considerations are reflected in industry deliberations. Industry announced its intention in 2023 to decommission the BECS framework, with June 2030 identified as a conditional target date.