Eftpos’ Nearly Formed Alliance With Mastercard: A Close Call in the Payments Landscape
It was revealed in the Federal Court that a decade ago, Eftpos, Australia’s widely recognised electronic payments system, nearly formed a partnership with the global payments giant, Mastercard. The proposed partnership, a project named “Cloudbreak”, was part of Eftpos’ international payments brand search to strengthen its presence in the evolving payments ecosystem.
The court proceedings were part of an ongoing case where the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is alleging that Mastercard misused its market power between 2017 and 2020. According to ACCC’s claims, Mastercard sought to exploit its influence as a leading credit card provider to limit competition in the debit card processing market.
Mastercard’s Alleged Misuse of Market Power
The ACCC’s allegations against Mastercard stem from actions purportedly initiated in 2017 when the Reserve Bank of Australia was encouraging banks to expedite the deployment of “least cost routing” services for debit cards. Least cost routing allows merchants to choose the cheapest network for processing debit card payments, thereby promoting competition among payment processing networks.
Eftpos’ Search for a Global Payments Partner
During the court proceedings, it was also revealed that Eftpos had explored potential partnerships with Discover and China Union Pay, two other prominent players in the global payments industry. In addition to these prospective alliances, Eftpos also sought requests for proposals from Visa and Mastercard.
In 2017, Richard Wormald, President of Asia Pacific at Mastercard and former head of financial services at Coles, confirmed that Mastercard was in discussions with Eftpos. According to Wormald, if the partnership had materialised, Eftpos would have retained its standalone scheme in Australia, with Mastercard functioning as a technology provider.
The End of Mastercard – Eftpos Negotiations
Despite the detailed disclosure, it remains unclear why the negotiations between Mastercard and Eftpos ended. The court did not delve into this aspect, leaving it as one of the unexplored chapters in the history of Australia’s payments landscape.
Richard Wormald, who served as the head of Mastercard for Australasia from 2016 to 2025, also held a position on the board of Eftpos. His unique experience and insight into both entities would have undoubtedly been crucial during the negotiations.
As the payments industry continues to evolve and new partnerships emerge, this nearly formed alliance between Eftpos and Mastercard serves as a reminder of the dynamic and competitive nature of the global payments landscape.
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