PayTo will enable eligible CBA customers, including its retail and business customers with access to CommBank App and NetBank, to manage one-off or recurring new payment agreements within the secure platforms
CBA switches on PayTo for CBA payers. (Credit: Commonwealth Bank of Australia)
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has implemented PayTo payments for authorising payments from its customers’ bank accounts.
Developed by New Payments Platform Australia (NPPA), PayTo enables merchants and businesses to initiate real-time payments from customers’ bank accounts.
NPP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Australian Payments Plus and provides an open-access infrastructure for rapid payments in Australia.
With the new PayTo payer functionality, eligible CBA customers can manage one-off or recurring new payment agreements securely through CommBank App and NetBank.
The eligible customers include the bank’s retail and business customers who can access NetBank or CommBank App, and have a CBA bank account.
PayTo offers enhanced control over payments that come directly from its customers’ bank accounts, including for regular bills, subscriptions and one-off payments, said the bank.
CBA payments executive general manager Ethan Teas said: “We’re delighted to be at the forefront of this as the first major Australian bank to offer the PayTo capabilities for our payer customers and to trial the capabilities for our business customers.
“Innovation is at the core of what we’re doing to support Australians to pay and to get paid and PayTo could set the foundations for significant innovation across Australia’s payments system.
“The trial transactions we have undertaken with two of our business customers are proof of the benefits that could be on offer to the broader business community, and we look forward to working with our partners to make PayTo a force for positive change in the months and years ahead.”
CBA has become the first major Australian bank to successfully complete PayTo pilot with two of its business customers Telstra and The Shepherd Centre.
Telstra is a telecommunications company, and The Shepherd Centre is a disability service provider for children with hearing loss.
The Australian lender teamed up with bank-grade platform provider Paypa Plane for the trial.
In the trial, Telstra used PayTo to enable a customer to make a bill payment, while The Shepherd Centre used PayTo to enable a donor to make a donation.
CBA said that the PayTo for payee functionality is currently in the trial phase, and is not widely available.
Once fully launched, eligible CBA business customers can use PayTo as an alternative to direct debit arrangements and third-party payments like salary disbursements.
Its business customers can also accept PayTo payments in eCommerce environments as an alternative to credit and debit card payments, said CBA.