{"id":15827,"date":"2026-05-13T13:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/?p=15827"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T04:09:51","slug":"payments-in-anz-a-market-maturing-and-what-that-means-for-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/market-insights\/payments-in-anz-a-market-maturing-and-what-that-means-for-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Payments in ANZ: A Market Maturing –\tand What That Means for Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Payments in ANZ feels different in 2026.<\/strong>
\nFor years, the narrative was simple: growth, adoption, disruption. That’s still true \u2014 but it’s no longer enough.
\nWhat we’re seeing now is a shift toward a more mature phase, where margin<\/strong>, regulation<\/strong>, distribution<\/strong> and execution<\/strong> matter just as much as innovation.
\nFrom a recruitment perspective, the question has changed:<\/p>\n

It’s no longer “is payments growing?” \u2014 it’s: “who is actually set up to win from here?”<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Market Shift: Less Product, More Economics<\/h2>\n

Consumer behaviour has already moved:
\n\u2022 Mobile wallets now make up 40%+ of in-person transactions
\n\u2022 NPP is processing $6B+ daily<\/p>\n

Payments are becoming invisible<\/strong> \u2014 and that shifts value away from frontend experience toward:
\n\u2022 Infrastructure
\n\u2022 Cost efficiency
\n\u2022 Routing capability
\n\u2022 Distribution<\/p>\n

At the same time, consolidation is accelerating.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shift4’s acquisition of Smartpay (40,000+ merchants across ANZ) is a clear signal: scale is starting to win.<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Hiring: Still Active, But Far More Selective<\/h2>\n

Hiring hasn’t slowed \u2014 it’s sharpened.
\nWe’re seeing a split: some businesses reducing or restructuring, while others are hiring deliberately.
\nConsistent demand remains for:
\n\u2022 Enterprise \/ mid-market sales
\n\u2022 Commercial product leaders
\n\u2022 Risk, fraud & compliance
\n\u2022 Multirail payments expertise (cards + A2A)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Broad hiring has dropped off. Every role now needs to directly impact revenue, margin or capability.<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Churn: Structural, Not Optional<\/h2>\n

Churn is still high \u2014 but increasingly driven by restructuring, M&A activity, and margin pressure.
\nBusinesses are redefining what “good” looks like \u2014 and that’s creating movement.
\nRetention now comes down to:
\n\u2022 Strategy clarity
\n\u2022 Leadership quality
\n\u2022 Confidence in where the business is heading<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Surcharge Piece: The Biggest Near-Term Swing Factor<\/h2>\n

With the RBA’s final decision expected imminently<\/strong>, surcharging is the biggest variable in the market right now.
\nAustralians currently pay $1.2B annually<\/strong> in surcharges. If removed or reduced:
\n\u2022 Margins tighten across the board
\n\u2022 Pricing comes under pressure
\n\u2022 Consolidation likely accelerates<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This won’t impact everyone equally. Businesses with strong software value<\/strong>, better routing capability<\/strong>, and diversified revenue<\/strong> will be far better positioned than those relying on thin-margin or hardware-led models.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Salary Expectations: Sales vs Account Management<\/h2>\n

One of the biggest shifts we’re seeing is around commercial roles \u2014 both new business and retention.<\/p>\n

Business Development (New Logo Focus)<\/h3>\n

Still commanding strong packages, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne:<\/p>\n

Account Managers (Growth + Retention Focus)<\/h3>\n

This is where we’re seeing more variation \u2014 depending on book size, complexity and whether there’s an upsell component.
\nMarket benchmarks (Australia):
\n\u2022 $90k\u2013$110k base \u2014 typical mid-range
\n\u2022 $110k\u2013$150k+ base \u2014 experienced \/ enterprise-facing roles
\n\u2022 OTE can push to $180k\u2013$220k+ in more commercial \/ quota-driven roles<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Key Shift: The BDM \/ AM Line Is Blurring<\/h2>\n

More roles now expect retention + growth, upsell\/cross-sell responsibility, and ownership of revenue within an existing book.
\nWhich is why we’re seeing:
\n\u2022 Account Manager salaries creeping closer to sales comp structures
\n\u2022 More variable\/bonus tied to account expansion, not just retention<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Across both BDMs and Account Managers:
\n\u2022 Compensation is becoming more performance-driven
\n\u2022 Regional differences still exist \u2014 but are narrowing
\n\u2022 Businesses are paying for commercial impact, not just tenure<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What This Means Going Forward<\/h2>\n

Payments in ANZ isn’t slowing \u2014 it’s maturing.
\nOver the next few years, we’ll see:
\n\u2022 More consolidation
\n\u2022 More pressure on margins
\n\u2022 More focus on efficiency and scale<\/p>\n

And from a talent perspective:
\n\u2022 Hiring will stay active \u2014 but targeted
\n\u2022 The bar for top performers will keep rising
\n\u2022 The gap between strong and average talent will widen<\/p>\n

Final Thought<\/h2>\n
The next phase of payments won’t be won by the businesses doing the most \u2014 but by those doing the right things, with the right people.<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’re unsure whether you have the right capability in place \u2014 particularly across sales, product, risk or operations \u2014 now is the time to sense-check it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Call our Fintech and Payments specialist Brad Johnson<\/strong> on 0482 088 632<\/strong> to discuss where your teams are underweight, where they\u2019re over-indexed, and what capability is actually needed to win from here.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Payments in ANZ feels different in 2026. For years, the narrative was simple: growth, adoption, disruption. That’s still true \u2014 but it’s no longer enough. What we’re seeing now is a shift toward a more mature phase, where margin, regulation, distribution and execution matter just as much as innovation. From a recruitment perspective, the question…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":15830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15827"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15874,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15827\/revisions\/15874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/15830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keeganadams.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}