Our favourite reads from around the payments, banking and tech world

Australia and NPP: a real-time payments revolution (January, 2024)
Jordan Lawrence, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Volt, discusses Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), its effect on RTP, and the benefits for businesses and consumers. More here.

5 Reasons CFOs Should Adopt Real-Time Payments (October, 2023)
Instant or real-time payments offer speed, lower cost, easier reconciliation, and more precise control of working capital. More here.

Real-Time Payments Expanding Across the Globe (September, 2023)
PaymentsJournal talked with experts from different parts of the payments world to discuss how real-time payments are proceeding throughout the world, and particularly in the United States and Australia. More here.

2024 will be the year retailers wake up to safer, faster payments – or fall behind (December, 2023)
At a time where the cost of living remains stubbornly high, businesses are feeling the pinch more than ever. To hedge against this, many are adopting surcharges and forwarding those card processing fees onto consumers—putting more pressure on everyday Australians. It’s a ripple effect that only hurts the consumer in the end. More here.

Volt’s launches real-time payment tech in Australia (November, 2023)
Global real-time payments platform, Volt, has expanded into Australia — a significant milestone for the UK-headquartered fintech and the account-to-account payments industry. Volt’s gateway will be integrated with PayTo, enabling Australian consumers to enjoy a top-tier PayTo payment experience. More here.

What is PayTo? (June, 2023)
In yet another signal that the days of the plastic bank cards are numbered, soon it will be possible to make payments direct from your bank account using a new, Australian-made option - PayTo. More here.

Woolworths rolls out a big change to the way people shop (May, 2023)
The supermarket has become the first major company to offer customers an option to link their bank account directly to its app, using PayTo functionality introduced by Australia’s new payments platform. More here.

NAB makes its PayTo play, invests in Banked (December, 2022)
National Australia Bank’s venture capital fund has invested in a London-based fintech to bring new “pay by bank” options to Australian retailers. More here.

Surcharges Increase at a Rapid Rate in Australia: The Case for Pay by Bank (April, 2024)
Credit and debit cards have largely replaced cash in Australia, providing customers with increased convenience and introducing purchase protections. However, card networks charge a fee for each and every transaction, normally between 0.5% and 2% (RBA). More here.

Is 2024 Going To Be The Breakthrough Year For "Pay by Bank"? (April, 2024)
In an interesting move, Uber is introducing “Pay by Bank” (by Stripe) as a Payment Option, and they are pro-actively incentivizing users with cheaper rides if they choose that method over Cards and Wallet. More here.

Pay by Bank on the Rise, According to New Research from Brite Payments (March, 2024)
New research from Swedish fintech Brite Payments and YouGov has found that the way consumers pay is changing, with Pay by Bank ranking a top three payment method in the UK, Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Germany. More here.

‘Pay-By-Bank’ Trend Builds Momentum into 2024 (November, 2023)
Payments players have their eye on 2024, when expanded faster-payments channels, changing consumer and business attitudes about payments, and more could add up to increased 'pay-by-bank' activity – all at the expense of the traditionally dominant (and lucrative) credit card. More here.

The continued migration of payments from BECS to the NPP (January, 2024)
Just like when a date was set for the end of Australian analogue TV in December 2013, a target date of 2030 has been set for the decommissioning of Australia's legacy BECS framework.  More than one third of account-to-account payments are processed today using the NPP so the migration from BECS to NPP has been occurring for some time. 

But there is still work to do to support ongoing migration. More here.

Modernising Australia's Payments System (December, 2023)
The payments landscape is changing rapidly, with new business models and technologies entering the space. The industry is also moving from legacy systems towards new platforms that can deliver payment services that are faster, safer and more convenient. This speech, delivered by Michele Bullock, Governor, Australian Payments Network Summit, Sydney, addresses the changing landscape. More here.

Amazon Taps Stripe to Power ‘Just Walk Out’ Payments in Australia, Canada (March, 2024)
Stripe is now powering payments for retailers using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology in Australia and Canada. With Stripe Terminal and Stripe Connect enabling in-person payments for retailers using that technology, consumers can shop and then leave the store without having to wait in line to pay, the provider of financial infrastructure platform for businesses said in a March 21 press release. More here.

Buy Side, Supply Side: Faster B2B Payments Build Better Relationships (February, 2024)
Instant payments empower buyers by providing them with greater control over their cash flow. Quick settlement reduces the need for large working capital reserves, allowing buyers to optimise their financial resources efficiently. More here.

Beyond Faster Transfers: How Payment Modernisation Shapes Customer Experiences (January, 2024)
Payment modernisation offers several benefits beyond faster money transfers. It supports business strategies by attracting and retaining customers, contributing to brand identity, and providing operational and technical efficiencies. More here.

Most Borrowers Drawn to Speed and Convenience of Instant Disbursements (November, 2023)
Disbursements are a critical part of consumers’ financial lives, encompassing various payments such as earnings, income, tax refunds, insurance claims and loan disbursements. While these disbursements are predominantly received through non-instant methods, there is a growing interest among consumers in instant payouts. More here.

The Overlooked Catalyst Driving Real-Time Payments Demand: The Gig Economy (October, 2023)
Payment tech is transforming gig work by creating an experience that meets workers’ needs and expedites the work cycle. More here.

Failed Payments Are Costing Companies Their Best Subscribers and 9% of Revenue (October, 2023)
Many companies offering subscription plans underestimate the impact that payment failures have on their best customers and bottom lines. More here.

Australians lose nearly $1 billion a year in card surcharges (March, 2024)
Unlike in the UK and the European Union where card surcharges are banned, retailers in Australia are allowed to recoup their payment costs through surcharging their customers, as long as they are not making a profit out of it.

RBA governor Michele Bullock has threatened to mandate Least-cost routing [LCR] if the industry does not meet the target of 80 per cent uptake by the middle of the year. More here.

The Indomitable Nature of Bank Cards (March, 2024)
In the continually evolving landscape of banking and finance, one element has remained surprisingly resilient against the tides of change: the humble bank card. Since their inception in the 1950s, cards have woven into the fabric of global commerce, becoming ubiquitous in wallets and online transactions. More here.

U.S. Clings to Paper Currency Amid Global Shift to Polymer and Digital Payments (March, 2024)
The United States remains steadfast in its use of traditional paper currency, resisting the global trend towards more durable polymer notes and the expanding digital payment ecosystem. Despite the Federal Reserve's significant investment in printing new bills, experts argue for a transition to dollar coins and polymer notes for economic and environmental benefits. More here.

“It’s not about killing cards,” says founder of payments startup Banked (February, 2024)
Banked has inked a deal with US financial tech firm FIS aimed at driving new pay-by-bank offerings for consumers and businesses in the US. More here.

Are We Approaching a World Without Cards? Or a World with More Choice? (December, 2023)
Cards were never designed for online commerce. They’ve been retrofitted from a physical payment method into an imperfect online option. That’s why the next generation of payments are being built from the ground up, with online commerce in mind. More here.

American Express and Nuvei join forces to facilitate A2A payments [UK] (November, 2023)
Pay with Bank transfer, powered by American Express (“PwBt”), has selected Nuvei Corporation, a Canadian FinTech company, as its first acquirer authorised to promote and sell PwBt’s Open Banking-enabled payment method. The payment method enables consumers to complete transactions seamlessly from their bank accounts without entering card details or completing additional authentication checks. For merchants, PwBt delivers a frictionless payment where funds are reconciled instantly, with attractive processing fees. More here.

The Past Decade Transformed Payments, But Wait for the Next 10 Years (March, 2024)
Most of us can see that technology holds the promise to transform the way financial services are provided to individuals and businesses. Technology has improved financial services, but not transformed how we make payments, borrow, lend, and manage our investments. But the simultaneous availability of new data sets, ubiquitous smart phones, cloud computing, and even digital currency protocols fundamentally change how financial processes could be organized. More here.

Gen Z embraces digital wallets but they actually want more (February, 2024)
A large portion of younger consumers want to explore alternative uses of digital wallets, especially for specific money transfer purposes.

Despite being used mainly for purchases, they want digital wallets to offer more, such as managing and setting up recurring bills, facilitating account-to-account transfers, and investing. More here.

NAB Says Real-Time Cash and Working Capital Management Among 2024’s Banking Megatrends (January, 2024)
Although different clients of different sizes may pivot to real-time payments at different paces, NAB's Conway noted that all clients show some commonality when it comes to real-time transactions. They want those transactions to be easy.

Those same clients want the transactions to be low cost. And — no surprise — corporates want assurance that their digital transactions are resilient and secure. More here.

2024 fintech trends: A2A payments challenge cards in ecommerce (November, 2023)
Juniper's whitepaper unveiled 10 trends that are set to radically impact the fintech and payments landscape in 2024. The No. 1 trend for 2024? A2A Payments to Challenge Cards in eCommerce. More here.

In 2024, The Winners Will Be Those Who Weave Value Around Payments (November, 2023)
It’s the payment experience, not the payment, that matters — how you put payments to use, the value-added services wrapped around the payment. This is where the smart will focus in 2024. More here.

The Loonie Goes Lightning Fast: Canada's Real-Time Payments Revolution (April, 2024)
For Canadians, the concept of waiting for a payment to clear might soon feel as quaint as rotary phones and dial-up internet. Payments Canada, the overseer of the country's financial infrastructure, has announced a renewed push for its Real-Time Rail (RTR) system, promising instant transfers and a complete overhaul of how money moves. More here.

Klarna Adds Open Banking for UK Customers (March, 2024)
Swedish payments FinTech Klarna is now offering open banking-powered settlements in the U.K. “The launch means consumers can now pay Klarna directly from their bank account instead of using a debit card, bypassing card networks and marking a major milestone in Klarna’s ambition to build a payments network of the future,” the company said on March 14. More here.

U.S. Clings to Paper Currency Amid Global Shift to Polymer and Digital Payments (March, 2024)
The United States remains steadfast in its use of traditional paper currency, resisting the global trend towards more durable polymer notes and the expanding digital payment ecosystem. Despite the Federal Reserve's significant investment in printing new bills, experts argue for a transition to dollar coins and polymer notes for economic and environmental benefits. More here.

Why e-payments are a ‘game changer’ for digital public services in Italy (March, 2024)
Italy is doing things differently when it comes to encouraging the adoption of digital payments and digital public services more broadly. More here.

Jack Dorsey's plan to reshape Square (February, 2024)
After retaking day-to-day control as CEO of Square last fall, Jack Dorsey, surprised analysts with fourth-quarter profits that exceeded expectations. And he's just getting started. Next, Dorsey aims to overhaul the 15-year-old Square app so that it works more cleanly with Block's booming peer-to-peer Cash App to act like a bank for sellers and others. More here.

European Parliament adopts new instant money transfer rules (February, 2024)
The European Parliament has adopted a new set of rules to ensure that transferred funds arrive immediately in bank accounts across the EU.

The objective of the new regulation is to eliminate delays in fund transfers for retail clients and businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to improve the security of transactions. More here.