Buy now, pay later players won’t be asked to pass on retailer fees to shoppers for now, says RBA

Buy now, pay later providers such as Afterpay and Zip can continue to prevent retailers imposing a surcharge when shoppers use the services, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says.

But he indicated that as these services grow in popularity they could be forced to play along the same rules as credit card companies, which analysts have previously warned could dent their growth.

In a recent review of the sector, Australia’s corporate watchdog ASIC said one in five consumers using buy now, pay later miss payments, but stopped short of imposing new regulation on the sector.

Investors have been awaiting whether the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would impose regulatory changes.

Currently, the ‘no surcharge’ rules restrict the ability of…