The New Payments Platform

December 23, 2016

You may have heard about it over the past few years. Launch is planned for the second half of 2017 and interest is certainly heightened.

I won’t provide an explanation of the concept here – the New Payments Platform Australia website www.nppa.com.au launched in December provides plenty clear information and many useful references and videos.

Australia certainly won’t be the first country to adopt a fast payments systems – several others including the UK, Japan, India, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Switzerland and others have been around for a number of years. However, Australia is at the forefront because the really exciting part is that Australia’s version will be one the most innovative (or to be more precise, facilitate innovation).

Of course it will be fast – but one key advance is potential for Overlay Services – additional data and context over and above the very basic transactional information. An analogy is the difference between texting and content rich emails and apps.

What kind of apps? It’s difficult to know, but of course anyone can think up of ideas, the same way they have for smart phones.

Who will build them? Banks of no doubt, but if the NPP enables new entrants to the marketplace, the possibilities are endless.

Security? The speed and ease of payments has been reported in overseas versions as resulting in exposure to fraud. But in the case of the Australian version, with its overlay services and additional information, there is opportunity for solutions – maybe an app that does some security checks, or additional information required payees. And if you have been a victim of fraud, maybe it’s preferable to find out sooner rather than later!

Expect to hear a lot more about the New Payments Platform Australia as we approach launch date later this year.

If you’d like to discuss your software development options with The Bridge at no cost or obligation, feel free to call Lawrence on 02 9993 3300 or email lawrence@thebridgedigital.com.au