Commonwealth Bank, first major Australian bank to enable PayTo payments for customers

By Leandra Monteiro

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has become the first major Australian bank to enable PayTo payments for CBA customers – a new digital way to authorise payments from a CBA bank account, and the latest initiative from New Payments Platform Australia (NPPA).

As part of the PayTo payer functionality, eligible CBA customers will be able to manage one-off or recurring new PayTo payment agreements within the security of the CommBank App and NetBank, including the ability to view, authorise, pause or cancel payment agreements. Eligible customers include CBA retail and business customers who can access NetBank and/or the CommBank App and have a CBA bank account that Commonwealth Bank has determined to be an eligible bank account to make PayTo payments.

This PayTo payer capability can help provide more control over payments that come directly from Commonwealth Bank customers’ bank accounts, including for regular bills, subscriptions and one-off payments. It may also reduce fraud, as each new digital PayTo payment agreement is authorised through secure banking platforms such as the CommBank App and NetBank.

In another first for a major Australian bank, CBA has also completed a successful PayTo trial with two business customers, Telstra and The Shepherd Centre. CBA partnered with Paypa Plane¹ to trial PayTo for these business customers, enabling them to each create a PayTo payment agreement and receive a payment.

Commonwealth Bank, Executive General Manager Payments, Ethan Teas, said, “PayTo has the potential to revolutionise payments in Australia. 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.”

As PayTo for payee CBA business customers is in the trial phase, it is not currently widely available. CBA plans to expand the trial with Telstra, The Shepherd Centre and additional select CBA business customers who meet CBA’s eligibility requirements.

When PayTo is fully launched, eligible CBA business customers will be able to establish PayTo payment agreements as an alternative to direct debit arrangements as well as third party initiated payments like salary disbursements. Commonwealth Bank business customers may also be able to accept PayTo payments in eCommerce environments as an alternative to credit and debit card payments.

With PayTo, Commonwealth Bank business customers may be able to reduce the costs and delays associated with failed payments, as well as improve cash flow and reconciliation because digital PayTo payment agreements allow for near real-time payment processing, contain more information and data than traditional direct debits and requires payer customers to authorise the PayTo payment agreement.

Commonwealth Bank’s partnership with fintech Paypa Plane is part of the Group’s continued investment in its payment ecosystems and the New Payments Platform (NPP).

“We will continue to invest and innovate, working with our partners, to deliver exceptional payment experiences for our customers. The NPP, and in particular PayID® and PayTo, creates the opportunity to build digital, safe, fast, and efficient payment experiences that delight and benefit our customers,” said Mr Teas.