With Darcy W.E. Allen.
Submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Schemes, Digital Wallets and Innovation in the Payments Sector.
Summary: This submission examines competition in payments through a dynamic, institutional lens. Rather than treating payment systems as static markets to be optimised through fee controls or scheme regulation, we argue that payments infrastructure shapes entry, experimentation and economic coordination over time. Digital wallets, stablecoins and machine-mediated exchange enable new institutional forms that compete by expanding economic capabilities. Interchange fees are best understood as governance mechanisms within complex payment networks rather than simple monopoly rents. Ex ante controls risk entrenching incumbent systems and foreclosing institutional experimentation.
Available in PDF here.