Australia’s Reserve Bank makes major PayPal decision

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 19:15

Opinion and Analysis

Victory for the “eBay Rebels”? It’s all thanks to the August 15 “Payments System Board Meeting”, where the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to act on eBay’s desire to mandate usage of or through its PayPal online payments system, proclaiming a “view to seeking the removal of these rules”.

iTWire has received an update on the matter of the mandated use of PayPal in most forms of payment, with a recent letter to the RBA answered with a major development that will cause PayPal and eBay to reverse their decision to impose PayPal on users, whether they want it or not!

The letter reads as follows (in italics):

"I wish to share with you news of an extremely exciting development in our group's quest to bring eBay and PayPal into line with all consumer legislation in Australia.

"I draw your attention to the following text extracted from this afternoon's media release by the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia).  I have bolded the key text.

"Over recent months, the Board has received a number of comments on the no-surcharge and no-steering rules that apply to payments using the PayPal system as well as the mandated acceptance of PayPal on eBay’s auction site.

"Where no-surcharge and no-steering rules have existed in other systems, the Board has encouraged their removal on the grounds that these rules can diminish competition in the payments system. Consistent with this, the Bank will shortly be holding discussions with PayPal with a view to seeking the removal of these rules.

"The RBA media release is here.

"What does this mean ?

"This is a huge step forward for delivering fairer treatment for 5 million eBay members in Australia at the hands of eBay/PayPal.  Indeed, the ramications could well be global as informed observers hold the view that eBay's recent actions in forcing PayPal on Australians was a pilot for a global roll-out."

Contined on page 2