Having recently attended a technology showcase for accountants I learnt of a new payments platform (NPP) that they are expecting to roll out in the early part of 2018.
The NPP will allow for the transfer from bank account to another account in real-time, rather than waiting for the funds to be cleared over a couple of business days. BSB and account numbers will no longer be required as each person will have a unique identifier by using a “Pay ID’. Customers will also be able to include 280 characters of text with a payment, up from the current 18 characters.
If all goes to plan, this will assist different people in different ways.
For the average person, this could simply be making the payment to the energy company on the day it is due (could be on the weekend), instead of a couple of days before the due date to receive a discount. Or if you are out for a meal, the restaurant won’t split the bill, so you decide to pay for all of the meal yourself. Instead of waiting for the others in your party to pay you, they will be able to transfer the money instantly so that you will not be out of pocket waiting for the transfer of funds over the next few business days.
If you are one of those employees that has everything worked out to the dollar based upon receipt of your salary and your employer is on the new payments platform you will receive your funds almost immediately that they process the pays.
For the small business, it could quite simply be the customer’s card transactions will clear almost immediately so no waiting on the funds. This will certainly assist cash flow, ensure no defaults on payment and make it even easy for people to purchase.
Times continue to change the way we do things. If you want to find more information go to www.nppa.com.au
