Also outlined in the government’s response, a Payments System Board will established to address problems with interchange fees and provide clarity around what constitutes excessive customer surcharges on card payments.
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The plan is part of the government’s response to the financial system inquiry led by former banker David Murray.
The report’s first recommendation was to set capital standards for the nation’s banks after finding Australia’s big banks were “not now in the top quartile”.
“We will continue to monitor developments in the payments system, in particular surcharging arrangements, and assess whether further action is required”.
The government will ban merchants from levying credit and debit card surcharges above the cost of acceptance and task the competition watchdog with enforcing the new rules.
The government is yet to define what it would consider to be unreasonably high surcharges.
Government will consult with the industry to “clarify and strengthen” regulatory powers to manage crises.
Asked whether the definition would include avoiding using super for wealth creation, Turnbull said everyone understood the argument about the tax concessions and the issues remained “under consideration”.
Labor’s financial services spokesman Jim Chalmers said it was crucial any changes made in the wake of the Government’s response to the inquiry protect consumers.
Mr Turnbull’s announcement may also put superannuation funds “on notice”, The Australian reported.
Such borrowings increased from $497m in June 2009 to $8.7bn in June 2014, the report said, arguing the global financial crisis highlighted the benefits of Australia’s relatively unleveraged super system.
While the government acknowledged anecdotal concerns about limited recourse borrowing arrangements, it said that at this time it does not consider the data sufficient to justify significant policy intervention.
All other recommendations were accepted, including raising the competency of financial advisers.
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Treasurer Scott Morrison called the surcharge ban a “fair dinkum test” on Sky News.
