kabarsula ‘They won’t come and talk to anybody’: ATIA’s Dean Long takes swipe at RBA over Beyond Borders snub bandar SLOT INDONESIA

Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) CEO Dean Long has taken a swipe at the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for declining an invitation to face travel industry members over its controversial credit card surcharge reforms.

Speaking at ATIA’s Beyond Borders conference in Melbourne today, Long criticised the RBA’s decision-making and accused the regulator of relying on flawed data and would push up prices for consumers, including those who don’t pay by card.

The ban on surcharging card payments was the outcome of the RBA’s review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. The RBA briefed stakeholders, including ATIA, on its decision on 31 March 2026. The ban took effect on 1 October 2026.

“We did invite the RBA to come here today. They declined. Not sure why,” Long told delegates.

He contrasted the RBA’s absence with American Express, which attended despite holding a different position on surcharging.

“Would have been very easy for AmEx not to turn up today,” he said, praising its willingness to engage with the industry.

Long then took a cheeky swipe at the RBA’s Martin Place headquarters, which has undergone renovations following the discovery of asbestos.

“If you want the RBA to leave Martin Place, you’ve got to find some asbestos because they won’t come and talk to anybody.”

‘Bad data leads to bad decisions’

Long challenged the RBA’s claim that just 16 per cent of Australian transactions attract a surcharge, arguing that the figures did not reflect consumers’ everyday experiences.

He recalled attending a closed RBA briefing where he asked approximately 30 attendees whether they had avoided paying a surcharge on recent purchases.

“Not a single hand went up,” he said.

Long claimed the data underpinning the reforms was supplied by major banks and card providers with commercial interests in the outcome.

“Bad data leads to bad decisions, which leads to bad consumer outcomes,” he said. “The RBA has unfortunately had a shocker on this instance.”

The RBA also provides the merchant facility for the Australian Taxation Office, its largest client. The ATO has since scrapped accepting credit card payments, including from travel trade SMEs. Long said that in any other business, a division whose decision cost the company its largest client would probably see someone lose their job.

ATIA unveils new industry data

Elsewhere in his address, Long unveiled ATIA’s new website and data dashboards, providing members with access to airline sales, passenger movements and aviation capacity information.

He also highlighted advocacy victories on travel insurance and the aviation ombudsman scheme, alongside ongoing work with Qantas on New Distribution Capability (NDC).

The association is making the dashboards available free to members, as part of its push towards more data-driven industry decision-making.