Payment industry participants anxious to hear what the Reserve Bank of Australia's next move will be on regulation of the sector were disappointed yesterday to hear that the Payment System Board of the RBA was still assessing its strategy.The industry has been waiting for some direction from the RBA since September 2008, when the Payment System Board presented its review of payment system regulation undertaken since 2002.RBA assistant governor Malcolm Edey, speaking at yesterday's Cards & Payments conference in Sydney, said the board was still assessing its options.Edey reiterated the RBA's position that it is a "reluctant regulator" but said there was not sufficient evidence that interchange fees would be held down in the absence of direct regulation.Edey said: "We believe there's been good progress in promoting competition over recent years. But it's not yet clear whether that will be sufficient."The 2008 review found that payment system reforms, which included a regulated standard for interchange fees, disallowance of the no-surcharge rule and expanded access to the network, had delivered benefits in the form of lower costs to merchants and increased competition. It found that price signals had been strengthened, transparency enhanced, access improved and the competitive environment was more soundly based.But the board felt that interchange fees were still too high and that competitive pressures were not strong enough to put downward pressure on those fees if the regulation were removed.The board said it would step back from regulation if it could be satisfied that this would not result in fees going back up again. Edey did not give any indication as to when the RBA would make its next move.