The Financial Services Council has picked acting chief executive Blake Briggs to fill the role on a permanent basis. He has been acting in the role since Sally Loane, who led the organisation for seven years, stepped down last October. Briggs joined the FSC as deputy CEO in 2020. Before that he was head of government and industry affairs for wealth at Westpac. He has had a previous term at the FSC, when he was policy manager for superannuation and financial services. Payments company Change Financial has signed an agreement with Mastercard for direct issuing in Australia and New Zealand. The partnership will make it easier for Change’s bank and fintech clients to launch debit and prepaid debit card programs.