The New Payments Platform (NPP) was officially launched in Australia to support the need for real-time payments of its digital economy. The NPP began as an industry-wide collaborative program to develop new, fast, flexible and data-rich payments infrastructure for Australia.
Services that use the Platform’s capabilities will be rolled out soon from about 60 banks, building societies and credit unions across the country, giving consumers and businesses the ability to transfer money instantly between accounts at different financial institutions at any time of day, any day of the year. They will also be able to include more accompanying information with these payments than ever before.
The system allows recipients to use their phone number, email address or an Australian Business Number (ABN) to facilitate transfer of fund with a simple addressing capability called PayID.
The CEO of NPP Australia, Adrian Lovney, said that over time more payments products and services are likely to make use of the New Payments Platform’s PayID functionality.
“PayID will make payments simpler because it means you don’t have to remember, or share, your BSB and account details with others. Being able to see the name of the person you are paying before you confirm the payment provides more reassurance,” Mr Lovney said.
The Platform went live in November last year and has supported funds transfers between employees at a number of different banks, building societies and credit unions. The Platform’s public launch occurred at 12.01am, when Mr Lovney marked the occasion by making a donation to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation Charity for Children.
“As you can imagine, rolling out something as complex as real time payments can’t simply happen overnight – it needs to be carefully planned. We do expect that within about a month after launch around four in five Australian accounts will be connected to the Platform, through a wide and diverse range of banks, building societies and credit unions. And because the Platform can support multiple products like Osko by BPAY, and the ways in which consumers and businesses will benefit will only grow and evolve over time,” Mr Lovney said.
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