The NPP "is gradually ramping up", Michelle Bullock, Reserve Bank assistant governor (financial system), told a bond summit in Shanghai yesterday.Bullock had few other prepared words on the NPP, or PayID, or the Osko gizmo. She advised a novice crowd that boilerplate on the NPP is "an open access infrastructure for fast payments in Australia."It "went live earlier this year", meaning in mid-February, Bullock said."It allows users of the payments system to send real-time payments with simple addressing 24/7. It also allows more complete information to be sent with payments. "But this wasn't a spontaneous creation of the industry. It was developed in response to a number of strategic objectives for the Australian payments system set by the Reserve Bank," she said.Bullock side-stepped the dismay at the NPP's staggered and nowhere near complete roll out."While the industry determined how it would achieve the objectives, the Reserve Bank played a significant role in encouraging and facilitating the cooperation required to develop and build the system." Venerable payments suppliers are on notice from the RBA.In Australia, "most of these new payment channels" - meaning smartphones and wearables - "use the existing payment rails, in particular those of the card schemes," Bullock said.Another force shaping the retail payments system are "new participants," naturally of keen interest to Australia's central bank."There are broadly three types of potential competitors," Bullock said."Most similar to the incumbents are digital banks, sometimes called neobanks. These banks offer banking services typically by mobile app. They are unencumbered by legacy systems and physical branch networks and can use newer technologies, potentially making them more flexible and responsive to consumer needs. "Then there are fintech firms, many of which are using technology to address particular frictions and gaps in the payments market. Online payments, point-of-sale technology and cross-border payments are all areas in which fintechs are innovating. "And, finally, there are the large global technology companies that can leverage their already extensive networks to offer proprietary closed loop payment services."In China there are two at the forefront of this - AliPay and WeChat Pay. But Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon all have some payment functionalities within their networks that they could potentially expand."Bullock said that moves to require banks to share the data of their customers with other participants (known as open banking) "have the potential to further promote competition and innovation. "In Australia, we are in the process of implementing an open banking regime that will put consumers in control of their banking data. "It is expected that consumers will be able to use these data to access better products and services. For example, consumers could ask their bank to share their credit card transaction history, interest rate, fees and other relevant data with a product comparison website. Using this information, the website could provide a tailored assessment of the best possible credit card for that particular individual, including an accurate estimate of potential savings compared with their current card. "While there are a number of challenges in implementing this