Australian SME Payments Summit

Small and medium Australian businesses have convened an urgent national summit to expose and scrutinise an escalating push by multinational payments companies and digital platforms to permanently lock-in higher fees by limiting access to local, lower cost networks.

Convened by the Council of Small Businesses of Australia (CoSBOA), the Australian SME Payments Summit will hear first-hand from business owners and leading independent industry analysts on the damage resurgent payment fee-gouging is wreaking on our economic recovery and resilience.

Whether its controlling Tap & Go fees, mobile and online payments costs or deciphering how Buy Now, Pay Later really works, The Summit will examine how, without real choice and effective policy settings, small businesses are now paying the most expensive fees for accepting card payments and other digital transactions, with Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Bruce Billson confirmed to attend.

The Australian SME Payments Summit is a free and virtual event and will provide a plain English exploration of the future of the Australian payments system, what’s happening right now in regulatory reform and how the changing landscape will affect your bottom line.

Free to attend, register here.

Speakers include:

Alexi Boyd

CEO @Council of Small Business Organisations Australia

Alexi Boyd is the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia. A fully qualified BAS agent, Alexi has over 20 years experience working with small and family businesses in addition to running her own bookkeeping practice, where she supported countless small and micro businesses in their journeys. Guided by her experiences, Alexi advocates for policies which strengthen small business owners’ ability to feel empowered and in control of their own journey.

Mangala Martinus

Managing Director @Payments Consulting Network

Mangala Martinus is managing director of Payments Consulting Network, a boutique management consulting firm focused on the payments industry in Asia-Pacific, and Merchant Pricing Hub, which supports Australian businesses lower the cost of payments. He has over 28 years’ experience in financial services and payments, specialising in developing innovative business strategies based on detailed market and financial analysis. He is currently focused on assisting clients in the retail, hospitality and not-for-profit sectors optimise payments acceptance. He developed Merchant Pricing Hub’s innovative Pricing Comparison service which helps small businesses reduce the cost of payments (in-store and online) by presenting competitive pricing from a range of payment service providers (leveraging least-cost routing) – a unique feature of this free service is that all referral fees are donated to charity.

Bruce Billson

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

Bruce Billson commenced his role as Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) in March 2021. Bruce brings experience and knowledge to the role of Ombudsman, and an understanding of the issues facing small business, having started his own advisory business in 2016. Bruce’s political career spans 30 years, including his role as Cabinet Minister for Small Business from 2013-2015. During this role, Bruce was instrumental in the establishment of ASBFEO and the passing of complex legislation to establish the office. Bruce has shown his dedication to small business through various board appointments, including the Franchise Council of Australia, Deakin University Business School and Australian Property Institute, and more recently through his appointment as Administrator for the City of Whittlesea.

Robbie MacDiarmid

Head of Asia Pacific @CMSPI

Robbie leads CMSPI’s Asia Pacific operations, and is responsible for optimisation projects across the region to deliver significant cost reductions and solution improvements. In Australia, he manages key strategic payment projects on behalf of ALDI, BP, Subway Restaurants and Shaver Shop, among many others. He is an expert on the future of payments, delivering educational workshops for merchants and regulators across the globe.

Brad Kelly

Managing Director @Payment Services

Brad Kelly is the Managing Director of Sydney based payments consultancy – Payment Services. Brad is Australia’s leading independent Payments specialist with 30 years experience across all aspects of the payments industry. During his career, Brad has worked with MasterCard, HSBC, ANZ, NAB as well and JPMorgan Chase and many other leading global payment organisations.

Mark McKenzie

CEO @Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association

Mark McKenzie is the CEO of Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketing Association (ACAPMA) and holds formal qualications in Civil Engineering (BEng) and Business (MBA), and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mark has extensive commercial and public policy experience having worked in a variety of public and private sector roles over the last 30 years. He sits on a number of national committees working in the areas of workforce skills, industrial relations, national competition policy, and clean technologies (in the transport sector).

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