By Mark Townley, Managing Director, Ideas2Outcomes & Artipi (Banking & Payments Strategic Advisory) - July 2026 Three numbers give key insights into the South Pacific's decade ahead. (1) US$20 to 25 billion, the combined capital investment Papua New Guinea's two flagship resource projects could represent over the next ten years. (2) Forty-three per cent, (43%) remittances as a share of Tonga's GDP, the highest dependency in the world, with Samoa fourth at 28 per cent. (3) Sixty per cent,...

By Mark Townley, Founder and Managing Director, Artipi Payments Advisory On 25 June 2026 the Reserve Bank of Australia opened the most consequential payments policy exercise in a decade. Its new Issues Paper launches the Review of Payments System Regulation, and unlike the targeted surcharging review that concluded in March, this one is deliberately broad. Amendments to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 have widened the RBA's remit to capture payment systems and participants that...

New Direct Debit Rules Signal the Future of Australian Payments On 1 September 2025, significant changes to Australia's Bulk Electronic...