Payment disruptions irritate regulators

There is a mild warning in the annual report of the Payments System Board over the operational disruption to payments processing that was a feature of the industry in the 2010/2011 year.

The PSB cited four episodes in the report, published yesterday.

Two related to NAB: the failure of overnight processing of direct entry payments over two nights in November 2010 and an unrelated problem with batch payments in April 2011.

Problems with internet banking, Eftpos and ATM services at Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, in March and May, were also noted.

The PSB wrote that "in light of these and other incidents, the Reserve Bank and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority are discussing possible approaches to strengthen the handling of any future operational disruptions to retail payments systems."

The PSB annual report also comments on the demise of BPay's Mambo project last month.

"The demise of this project means that the need for solutions to fill the gaps identified by the [innovation] review is even more pressing," the PSB said.