Commuters in Sydney, Australia, will soon be able to use a digital version of their Opal transit card to pay for taxi fares and rideshare services and earn credit towards the cost of public transportation services they then transfer to... More
Digital wallet payments surge on Apple Pay: CBA — The Sydney Morning Herald — “‘Since we’ve introduced Apple Pay, we’ve seen the number of wallet transactions that are linked to a card increase 2.7 times. So it’s really increased quite dramatically since we’ve introduced Apple Pay for our consumer customers,’ said Sam Itzcovitz, CBA’s general manager of commerce solutions, business customer solutions.”
NAB, Westpac and CBA team up with new payments app, Beem — The Sydney Morning Herald — “Three of the country’s banking giants are joining forces to allow instant payments between people or to small businesses via a smartphone, with plans to ultimately roll out a cross-industry ‘digital wallet’… The app will be the first service offered by a new digital payments joint venture that has been formed between CBA, NAB and Westpac… ANZ is not part of the joint venture but it has been involved in some of the discussions with rivals, and it may sign up in the future.”
Real-time payments to be launched after Australia Day — The Sydney Morning Herald — “The A$1bn project, triggered by a 2012 review of Australia’s payment infrastructure, will mean customers of different banks will be able to make and receive real-time payments, 24 hours a day and seven days a week… It will also allow consumers to arrange payments using their ‘PayID,’ such as a mobile phone number, instead of an account number or BSB. Customers will also be able to include 280 characters of text with a payment, up from 18 now.”
Tap-and-go kills the cash cow — Sydney Morning Herald – “Australia has become a nation of tappers, with official figures showing that the card has finally overtaken cash as our most-frequently-used payment method… The Reserve Bank attributes that to several factors, including the widespread rollout of tap-and-go Eftpos functionality. Around one-third of all point-of-sale payments are now made using tap-and-go.”
International travellers arriving at Australian airports may soon be able to pass through immigration and customs using biometric recognition without having to show their passports... More
Some 400,000 Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) customers have registered to use the bank’s NFC payments sticker, making 600,000 monthly payments, The Sydney Morning Herald says... More
Australian bank ANZ has announced it is working with Apple to deliver a wider range of financial products, including mortgages, through Apple Pay, the Sydney Morning Herald reports... More
Six retail branches of Citi bank in Australia are to stop dealing with cash because of falling demand from customers who prefer to manage their money digitally, the Sydney Morning Herald reports... More
Australian banks ANZ and Westpac are completing plans to launch Android Pay in the country “mid this calendar year”, according to The Sydney Morning Herald... More
Australia’s ANZ bank has reported a surge in applications for credit cards and deposit accounts since it added support for Apple Pay in April 2016, forcing “other major banks to re-enter negotiations with the technology giant,” says The Sydney Morning Herald... More
Mobile POS provider Square has launched in Australia, enabling retailers across the country to accept credit and debit card payments using their mobile phones... More
Members of the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) are currently exploring the possibility of implementing a voluntary code of practice to regulate digital wallets in the country... More
Australia’s largest banks are reportedly in dispute with Apple over Apple Pay interchange fees... More