The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has opened consultation on remaking its relief for certain low-risk non-cash payment facilities, proposing to extend existing exemptions from parts of the Corporations Act 2001 financial services regime. The current instrument, ASIC Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211, is scheduled to sunset on 1 April 2026, and ASIC proposes to reissue it for five years to maintain continuity for entities relying on the relief. The relief covers travellers’ cheques (exempt from transaction confirmation requirements), loyalty schemes and road toll facilities (generally outside the financial services laws in the Act), prepaid mobile facilities and some non-reloadable gift facilities (exempt from licensing, conduct and disclosure obligations), and low-value payments products (exempt from licensing, conduct and disclosure obligations but subject to alternative disclosure and dispute resolution requirements). The settings also provide relief so that Australian financial services licensees advising on, or arranging, payment services do not need a specific authorisation for that activity. ASIC noted the instrument consolidated multiple earlier class orders and said it will revisit the relief once a broader payments reform process underway is concluded. Feedback is due by 5 pm AEDT on 8 October 2025, as set out in Consultation Paper CS 29.

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