The National Payments Platform (NPP) was launched in February 2018. It was developed through industry collaboration to enable near real-time payments in Australia on a 24/7 basis. The excitement around NPP is due to the fact that it allows consumers to transfer and receive money in almost real-time. Funds are received in less than 60 seconds. Gone are the days when you have to wait for a few days to receive the money transferred by your friend to your account when you volunteered to pay for dinner on Friday. With the National Payments Platform (NPP), payment happens now.
The benefits are evident from a consumer’s perspective, but how does it impact businesses?
Based on the results of a recent poll with Parking Australia members, 47% said that they don’t know what NPP is. 42% said that their business is not yet on the NPP. 56% said that they don’t know what PayID and Osko are.
Below are 4 key things every business should know about the NPP
What is PayID/Osko
PayID (addressing service) is a feature of the NPP. It is a unique identifier, which allows users to provide an easy-to-remember unique identifier such as a mobile number, an email address or an ABN. PayID is linked securely to the bank details. Instead of providing the Account Number or BSB in their invoice, businesses can choose to provide their ABN if they registered it as their PayID.
Osko by BPAY is the first overlay service built on the NPP. It is a near real-time person-to-person payment service that allows users to make and receive payments faster via any participating bank. Visit the Osko site for a list of all the participating banks.
Benefits of NPP
- Secure – Because it is near real-time payments, there are also near real-time fraud risks but since NPP was developed in conjunction with bank institutions, it has been built with the same level of security as the banks. For example, when making a payment using a PayID, the account name linked to the PayID will be shown before the payee can approve the payment, ensuring the payment is being made to the right person or business.
- Easy Reconciliation – It allows up to 280 characters for transaction descriptions which is a big difference compared to the current 55-character limit. This means that the payee can include more details about the payment being made, making it easier for businesses to recognise and reconcile the payment.
- Near Real-Time Payments – Making an urgent payment is no longer an issue. With NPP, businesses can also streamline processes for making payments to suppliers or for payroll. Deadlines can now be adjusted as payments happen in near real-time.
Making and Receiving payments using the NPP
Not all Australian financial institutions are using the NPP. To be able to receive or make a payment using PayID, the payer and the payee needs to be banking with a participating bank.
Every financial institution is different
Each bank has a different approach to the NPP. There can be differences in the type of PayID they can support. Sometimes a bank may use Osko to be able to pay using a PayID. In some cases, the PayID is already a feature in the account.
It is important for every business to speak to their bank to find out more about how they can get on the NPP.
NPP and Parking
What does this mean for parking? This means that parking businesses can receive faster payments when they are on the NPP. If a business already has an existing PayID, they may include it in the invoice when they send it out to their customers. When a customer pays using PayID, their payment will be settled in near real-time.
Another example where parking businesses can benefit from being on the NPP is with the daily settlement payments. Payments made through a parking reservation platform or through an online parking account are taken from the customer’s account in real-time, but they are settled once a day in the merchant’s account. With NPP, this could be improved.
Apart from near real-time payments, being on the NPP can also provide better customer experience. Let us take a look at how PayID could potentially be applied on parking payment platforms.
When a customer signs up for an account with a parking business, they are provided with various options to make their payment. Customers may choose to set-up auto payment using their credit card details or setting-up direct debit by providing their Account Number and BSB. With PayID, a customer can choose to provide an easy to remember PayID instead of their Account Number and their BSB for their payment set-up. They do not have to remember their credit card number or their bank account details. And once payment is made, the parking operator will receive it in almost real time.
Possibilities are Endless
With NPP being a platform, it opens endless opportunities for innovators to create or build solutions based on near real-time payments. This is only the beginning of the journey.
For more information about the New Payments Platform (NPP), you may visit their website.
About ADVAM (www.advam.com)
ADVAM 
delivers world leading payment solutions, providing the expertise to make processing payments easier for its clients. ADVAM's reservation platform, parking solutions, unattended hardware and integrated online payment solutions enable clients to engage with their customers online, via mobile or at self-service terminals.
With teams and offices in Australia, New Zealand, UK and now the US, ADVAM services a client base that spans a range of sectors including some of the leading airports, parking operators, shopping centres and local government organisations.
Each client benefits from ADVAM’s depth of experience and industry knowledge. By working with its clients and alongside industry partners, ADVAM’s solutions integrate with clients’ existing infrastructure and business processes.
As the trusted business partner for payment solutions, ADVAM manages the complete end-to-end integration and enables clients to focus on improving their customers’ experience.
