AUSTRALIA

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Australia’s economy is strong and resilient, consistently outpacing other advanced economies. During 2019 to 2024, its economy is forecast to have grown by 11.1%. Australia is forecast to continue to outperform its peers over the next 5 years to 2029. Other solid fundamentals include low taxes and the top ranked legal system in the world. This offers predictability and protection for investors.

Strong global ties make Australia a prosperous trading nation. Its healthy economic outlook partly reflects the prosperity of Asia. Australia also enjoys the trade benefits of being close to many of the fastest growing economies in the world. Its global ties have also led to significant growth in foreign investment in Australia over the past two decades.

Real GDP growth is projected to slow to 1.5% in 2024 before recovering to 2.2% in 2025. The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the cash rate stable at 4.35% since November 2023. The projections assume that the cash rate will be held at this restrictive level until inflation is clearly declining to the target band, with 75 basis points of interest rate cuts assumed between the third quarter of 2024 and the end of 2025.

Australia is a global leader in renewable energy and critical minerals, with strong tech credentials. It has the highest global ranking for skills related to adopting and adapting frontier technologies.

Summary

BNP Paribas has been present in Australia since 1881, the only continental European bank to be located in the country. The bank's business centre is located in Sydney. With direct clearing system access and a strong partnership with the largest local bank, BNP Paribas offers comprehensive international cash management and trade finance solutions through multiple connectivity channels. BNP Paribas' Australian operation is also the gateway to New Zealand for both cash management and trade finance, with local processing outsourced to a major domestic bank.

BNP Paribas is a major player in trade finance throughout Asia, offering a full suite of traditional trade (letters of credit, bankers’ guarantee, trade financing, standby letters of credit, etc.) and supply chain financing solutions (receivables purchase programmes, supplier financing etc.) products, including a unique inventory solution offered through its trade centres in Australia, China, Japan and Singapore, specifically for companies engaged in international trade, as part of a wider network of more than 100 trade centres globally. BNP Paribas has experienced trade finance advisors and personnel who deliver a range of customised trade solutions and advise on local market practices. These solutions are supported by the bank's ISO-certified trade services support team.

Currency

Australian Dollar (AUD)

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Exchange rate: AUD per USD	1.3452	1.3050	1.338	1.439	1.45

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2021.

The Australian central bank is the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA - www.rba.gov.au).

Bank supervision

Australian banks are supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA – www.apra.gov.uk)

Bank accounts

A company is resident in Australia if it is incorporated in the country, or if it carries on business in Australia, and either its central management and control are in Australia, or its voting power is controlled by shareholders who are residents of Australia.

	Within AUSTRALIA	Outside AUSTRALIA
Local Currency	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible
Foreign Currency	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible

	Within AUSTRALIA	Outside AUSTRALIA
Local Currency	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible
Foreign Currency	Permitted without restriction, fully convertible	Not applicable

Per-item-based charges are applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.

BNP Paribas Cash Management Capabilities

Cash collections
Cheque collections
Direct debit collections
Domestic incoming transfers
Virtual IBAN
Virtual accounts
International incoming transfers
Card acquiring

Cash withdrawals
Cheque payments
Direct debit payments
Domestic outgoing transfers
Commercial cards
Virtual cards
International outgoing transfers
SWIFT gpi
Real-time international payments through BNP Paribas’ network
Card issuing

Local e-Banking
Global e-Banking - Connexis
SWIFT/ host to host

Payments & collections

The New Payments Platform (NPP) is Australia's national fast payments infrastructure. More than 100 banks, credit unions, building societies, fintechs and other organisations use the platform to support real-time payments for consumers, businesses and government agencies. Over 130 million payments are now processed each month through the NPP.

With the expected decommissioning of the BECS clearing system toward the end of this decade, it is assumed that all banks processing domestic EFT payments that have not implemented NPP are now expected to schedule the implementation of NPP before 2030.

Electronic banking services are available from most banks. Bank-neutral standards for ATMs, EFTPOS terminals and telephone and internet banking have been developed by the Australian Bankers’ Association.

BPAY is the Australian electronic bill presentment and payment service. Over 55,000 billers and over
150 financial institutions participate in BPAY.

RITS	Type	Real-time gross settlement.
	Participants	161 participants.
	Transaction types processed	High-value and urgent interbank credit transfers. Net obligations from other payment systems.
	Operating hours	07:30-22:00 AEST/AEDT, Monday to Friday.
	Clearing cycle details (e.g. cut-off times)	Payments are cleared and settled in real time during three cycles daily: 07:30–08:45, 09:15–16:30, and 17:25–22:00 AEST/AEDT. Settlement of payment obligations deriving from low-value clearing systems takes place on a deferred net settlement basis. The RITS Fast Settlement Service (FSS) is available for the settlement of NPP transactions 24/7/365.
	System holidays	RITS is closed on all Australian bank holidays. Australia’s bank holidays are: 2nd half 2021 — August 2, October 4, December 27, 28. 2022 — January 3, 26, April 15, 16, 18, 25, June 13, August 1, October 3, December 26, 27.
HVC	Type	Multilateral net settlement.
	Participants	49 direct.
	Transaction types processed	High-value and urgent AUD-denominated interbank transfers.
	Operating hours	09:15–17:15/19:30/18:30/20:30 AEST/AEDT, Monday to Friday.
	Clearing cycle details (e.g. cut-off times)	Payments are cleared in real time. Cut-off time = 18:05/20:05 AEST/AEDT. Final settlement takes place via RITS.
	System holidays	The HVCS is closed on all Australian holidays. (Dates as above)
BECS	Type	Intraday exchange settlement.
	Participants	82 direct.
	Transaction types processed	71 direct participants.
	Operating hours	08:00-18:30 AEST/AEDT, Monday to Friday.
	Clearing cycle details(e.g. cut-off times)	Payments are settled on a same-day basis. BECS processes payments in batches. Final settlement takes place via RITS six times daily: 10:00, 13:00, 16:00, 18:30, 20:45 and 22:30 AEST/AEDT.
	System holidays	BECS is closed on all Australian holidays (Dates as above)
APCS	Type	Deferred net settlement.
	Participants	68 direct.
	Transaction types processed	Cheques and paper-based instruments.
	Operating hours	08:30-17:30 AEST/AEDT, Monday to Friday.
	Clearing cycle details (e.g. cut-off times)	Cheques are usually cleared within a three-day cycle, although it can take up to 10 days. The APCS processes payments in batches. Final settlement takes place via RITS from 09:00 AEST/AEDT.
	System holidays	The APCS is closed on all Australian holidays (Dates as above)
IAC	Type	Deferred net settlement.
	Participants	18 direct.
	Transaction types processed	Proprietary debit card payments.
	Operating hours	08:30-17:30 AEST/AEDT, Monday to Friday.
	Clearing cycle details (e.g. cut-off times)	Payments are cleared and settled in batches on a next-day basis. Cut-off time = 04:00 AEST/AEDT. Final settlement takes place via RITS from 09:00 AEST/AEDT.
	System holidays	IAC is closed on all Australian holidays. (Dates as above)
NPP	Type	Real time via the RITS Fast Settlement Service.
	Participants	102 direct.
	Transaction types processed	Low-value payments via an online or mobile application. Osko is the first product to use the NPP infrastructure.
	Operating hours	24/7/365
	Clearing cycle details (e.g. cut-off times)	Payments are cleared and settled in real time.
	System holidays	The NPP operates 365 days a year.

Credit transfers are available as both paper-based and electronic payment instruments.
Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and for treasury payments.
High-value and urgent domestic AUD-denominated credit transfers can be settled in real time via the HVCS.
Low-value, non-urgent and bulk AUD-denominated credit transfers are settled on a intraday-day basis via BECS or via the NPP.
Low-value credit transfers can also be processed in real time via Osko, delivered by BPAY, which uses the NPP infrastructure.
Paper-based credit transfers are processed via the APCS and manually exchanged on a next-day basis.
Direct credit payments grew by 3.2% in 2022/23. Value of payments increased by 5.9%.
Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.

Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills.
Direct Debits are settled on a same-day intraday basis.
Direct debit volumes grew by 4.9% in 2022/23. Value of payments increased marginally to AUD 4.4 trillion.

The cheque is not a common cashless payment instrument, accounting for less than 0.1% of the total of non-cash payments in 2023. The Australian Government is phasing out cheques in Australia by 2030.
Cheques are cleared via the APCS. Final settlement takes place via RITS with funds typically available to beneficiaries within three days.
Total cheque payments continues to fall year on year and fell by 14% in 2022/23 to 25 million transactions, value fell by 14% to AUD 290
billion.

Card payments are the most frequently used payment method.
In 2022/23, card transactions grew by 14% year on year, to 14.2 billion.
There were 46 million debit and 17 million credit and charge cards in circulation in 2023.
In 2022/23 94% of in-person card payments were contactless. 1 in 3 in-person card payments were made with a mobile device.
Visa and MasterCard-branded cards are the most widely issued.
American Express, Diners Club and JCB credit cards are also available.
Most debit cards are proprietary cards operating via the national EFTPOS system.
Credit card payments are cleared via their respective international scheme.
Proprietary debit card payments are cleared by the Issuers and Acquirers Community (IAC). Scheme debit card payments are cleared by Visa or MasterCard.
All cards issued have EMV chips.

There were 24,695 ATMs in Australia at the end of June 2023.
There were 962,347 POS terminals in Australia at the end of June 2023.
Proprietary debit card payments are settled via IAC.
Visa and MasterCard card payments are settled by the relevant card issuer.
All POS terminals are EMV-compliant.

The dominant electronic wallet schemes in Australia are pre-paid cards.
15.3 million cards were registered to mobile wallets in 2022.
2.4 billion wallet transactions processed in 2022.
60% of e-commerce payments are made using mobile wallets.

Short term investments

Interest payable on credit balances

Interest-bearing current accounts are available.

Demand deposits

Demand deposits denominated in AUD or major foreign currencies are available for various terms.

Time deposits

Time deposits are available in AUD or major foreign currencies for terms ranging from one week to over a year.

Certificates of deposit

Domestic banks issue certificates of deposit, usually with terms between one day and 6 months. They can be issued paying fixed or floating interest.

Treasury (government) bills

The Australian Office of Financial Management auctions treasury notes twice a week.

Commercial paper

Domestic companies issue discounted promissory notes with maturities ranging from one week to six months. The minimum investment amount is AUD 1 million.

Money market funds

Managed mutual funds are available.

Repurchase agreements

Repurchase agreements are available in Australia. Terms of one week are most common, but longer terms are available.

Bankers' acceptances

Bank bills are available in Australia with maturities of one week and one, three and six months.

BNP Paribas Trade Finance Capabilities

Documentary credits
Documentary collections

Bank guarantees
Standby letters of credit

Receivables
Payables
Inventory

Connexis Trade
Connexis Supply Chain
SWIFTNet Trade for Corporates
Connexis Connect
Connexis Guarantee
SWIFTnet Supply Chain

BNP Paribas Global Trade Solutions’ (GTS) team in Australia comprises 3 trade professionals. This team finances significant flows in the Pacific corridor, and services the leading players in the natural resources sector.

International trade

As a signatory of Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA), Australia has agreed to standardise its trade and business regulations with New Zealand.
As a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Australia has agreed to liberalise trade and investment rules between members.

Australia has signed a number of free trade agreements. In November 2020, Australia signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade agreement.
Australia is a member of the ASEAN–Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Australia is conducting a number of FTA negotiations, including with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union. The country is also holding prospective FTA negotiations with the UK.
Australia is a signatory of the Pacific Trade and Economic Agreement (PACER Plus) alongside New Zealand and 14 members of the Pacific Island Forum, under which imports from the Pacific Islands are subject to non-reciprocal preferential duty rates under the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA). PACER Plus came into force on December 13, 2020.
Australia and ten other Pacific Rim countries have signed the renamed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Australia is a signatory of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Imports	Refined petroleum	Cars	Broadcasting equipment	Crude oil and petroleum products	Delivery trucks
Primary Import sources	China (25%)	USA (12%)	Japan (7.0%)	Thailand (5.0%)	Germany (5.0%)
Exports	Coal	Iron ore	Gold	Natural gas	Aluminium oxide
Export markets	China (39%)	Japan (15%)	South Korea (7.0%)	India (5.0%)

		2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Exports	- goods USD m	192,910	231,566	257,849	271,441	250,660
Exports	- services USD m	58,026	65,174	69,470	70,990	48,382
Imports	- goods USD m	198,711	221,064	236,906	223,427	210,721
Imports	- services USD m	62,468	68,474	73,319	72,035	38,347
Current account as % GDP		– 3.3	– 2.6	– 2.1	+ 0.6	+ 2.5

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2020.