BPAY is an Australian SaaS firm that enables electronic bill payments to financial institutions’ internet, mobile, or telephone banking systems for use with registered BPAY billers. BPAY Pty Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Card link Services Limited, uses the registered trading name BPAY as its trademark. The four largest Australian banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and Westpac share ownership of Card Link equally.
BPAY launch date
On November 18, 1997, the system was introduced as a telephone-based electronic bill payment system. It was the first single bill payment service ever to be adopted by the entire banking industry. Through the online banking websites of financial institutions, bill payments were soon made available online. The introduction of BPAY View in 2002 allowed for the electronic delivery of bills and statements to participating Australian financial institutions. These institutions subsequently sent an SMS or email to the consumer, who then used the internet banking website to authorize payment. As of January 2015, more than 156 Australian banks, credit unions, and financial institutions were its participants. Approximately 30 million bills totaling $24 billion are paid each month using BPAY, which is accepted by more than 45,000 businesses.
How it operates
The procedures for using Bpay are as follows:
Billers
By enrolling with BPAY Pty Ltd through their bank, businesses or other organizations in Australia can use BPAY as BPAY billers. A biller must also have a banking arrangement with an Australian financial institution, as well as an ACN or ABN registration number. The bank account to which funds received are to be deposited and the account to which fees are to be charged would both be designated by billers. The business would receive a BPAY biller number from the BPAY operating entity. The reference number that a customer would use to make a payment as well as the logo and biller number would be printed on the bill by the biller. When a card is used by a consumer to make a payment, the biller often pays a charge to its bank as well as the credit card company.
Making remittances
The payee must be a client of a participating Australian financial institution and registered for any of its online, mobile, or telephone banking services to receive payments via BPAY. To make a payment, the consumer does not need to sign up for the service itself. Typically, they are not charged anything to use the service. A consumer enters the internet, mobile, or telephone banking service of their Australian financial institution to make a payment, where they provide the biller number, reference number, payment amount, and an indication of the account to be debited, which may also be a credit card. Some billers might only accept a select few credit cards (or not accept credit cards at all) for payments. The financial institution may also restrict the types of accounts that can be used to make payments and store the biller reference data so that the client can use it in the future. The financial institution may send an SMS message with a validation code to the customer’s mobile phone as a security safeguard when they use BPAY to pay a new biller. Before the transaction is completed, the consumer must enter the validation code. If the customer is making the payment while traveling or does not have access to a mobile phone, this could cause issues.
Settlement
The financial institution where the payment was made provides electronic cash and transfers the payment information to the biller’s bank when the customer approves a payment (if different). After that, the biller’s bank transfers the payment amount to the chosen bank account and notifies the biller of the customer reference number and payment amount, whether automatic or manual. Transactions that are submitted before the financial institution’s cutoff time are often processed and paid the same day; if not, they are processed the following business day. The biller’s bank will typically charge the biller its fee every month, and the remitting (customer’s) bank may charge the biller’s bank an interchange fee.
BPAY in general
In 2002, BPAY View was unveiled. A BPAY biller would also need to sign up for the BPAY View service to use the system. After then, the biller would print the BPAY View logo on its invoices. After receiving the bill, the user can register it on the internet banking website or mobile app of their financial institution. Once registered, the bills are sent electronically by the biller to participating Australian financial institutions, who then send an SMS or email to the consumer, who then views the bill and authorizes payment via the financial institution’s internet banking website. Instead of setting up BPAY View, many billers prefer that their clients set up direct debits for the payment of the bill. This makes it possible for payments to be paid on time without the customer having to do anything other than making sure there are or will be enough funds in the account to be debited on time. Usually, the biller will send the consumer an SMS or email informing them that a debit will be made on a specific date and for a specific amount, along with either the bill itself or a link to it.
