Instant Pay is an instant bank transfer that can be used to pay for goods and services online. Businesses in Australia can register and integrate this service into their ecommerce solution, allowing customers to pay via bank transfer as an alternative to paying with credit cards online.
The new payments platform (NPP) is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that will enable faster, more flexible payments in Australia. It is based on similar platforms that have been introduced in other countries, such as the UK and Singapore. The NPP will allow consumers and businesses to make real-time payments between accounts at different financial institutions. It will also enable the development of new products and services, such as person-to-person payments and instant payment notifications.
Instant Pay uses the NPP (Australia) to process bank transfers to business merchants within seconds. It passes instant remittance between the payer and the business merchant, removing the need for credit cards to be used in online or ecommerce.
Instant Pay integrations involved two costs. The cost to setup the integration (which can vary) and the cost involved with each transaction. Transaction costs vary, but range between 50c-$1.50 per transaction, regardless of the amount be transferred.
Using Instant Pay is as simple as making a bank transfer from your internet banking. Instant Pay will provide the payer with a PayID and payment instructions to complete their payment. Instant Pay then receives your payment within seconds and lets the business merchant know that they have been paid, reconciling the payment instantly.
Instant Pay gives payers/consumers a much more secure online payment option, as well as operating under a fixed fee environment. Comparably, using a credit card online is considered not secure and incurs merchant and consumer fees ranging from 1-3.8% per transaction.
Instant Pay is compatible with all Australian Banks, though some offer differing NPP payment timeframes. Regardless of a banks timeframe for processing payments, Instant Pay will reconcile any payment.
Instant Pay can manage part payments and overpayments on behalf of the merchant. SMS and email is used to inform the payer if their transaction is complete. Instant Pay can also refund payments if they don’t reconcile or don’t meet your payment requirements.
Instant Pay may still be able to reconcile this payment, depending on your integration. However if a payment is not recognised, it will simply be refunded to the person who made the payment.
Instant Pay offers API based banking services to select businesses in Australia. Every transaction that moves through the Instant Pay platform is actionable. Ultimately, every transaction can trigger an action, whether that be remittance, automating a supplier purchase or even turning on a smart light on the opposite side of the world.
Any funds that move through an Instant Pay integration are cleared funds and can be used immediately. Unlike credit card payments that have a waiting period before funds are usable.
Instant Pay does not support RTGS payments or international incoming payments. We recommend that all payers simply use a bank transfer from either their banking app or internet banking to complete their payment to their merchant.
By using Instant Pay you are gaining access to one of the most advanced methods in tracking fraudulent or ML/TF transactions. And we continue to build more transparency and alerts helping manage your reporting requirements. Instant Pay does not take responsibility for any of your regulatory reporting (Through AUSTRAC or any other regulatory body). We simply provide tools within our system to improve your reporting efficiency
Instant Pay enterprise users can send money dynamically to any account in Australia. By application, merchants will also have the ability to send money through API as well as manually send money through our console.