Global Payments and its direct debit platform, Ezidebit has become the largest Australian payments service provider to introduce real-time PayTo capability for immediate transactions.

Delivered in collaboration with Australian Payments Plus’ (AP+), Ezidebit PayTo enables businesses to accept real-time customer transactions for one-off and recurring payments such as memberships and subscriptions.

Payments Oceania CEO at Global Payments, Masseh Haidary said Ezidebit’s early adoption of PayTo technology comes at a perfect time for key business sectors navigating difficult economic headwinds.

“The current economic reality our 60,000 Ezidebit customers operate within makes cash flow crucial, so payment technology providers like Global Payments play an important role in enabling business confidence,” Haidary said.

“With PayTo integrated into Ezidebit’s all-in-one payments ecosystem, we can now offer businesses real-time transaction capability as an alternative customer charge method to direct debit. Sectors where real-time Ezidebit PayTo capability can dramatically improve business cash flow include health and fitness, self-storage, medical, childcare, hair and beauty, insurance and real estate.

“Many businesses in these sectors are small to medium-sized where cash reserves tend to be shallower than those of their larger counterparts. By enabling these businesses to initiate real-time recurring payments from their customers’ bank accounts with pre-authorised agreements, they carry less risk of missed or disputed transactions and fraud.”

Business Payments AP+ general manager, Katrina Stuart said PayTo is the latest service to be offered on the New Payments Platform (NPP) infrastructure.

“PayTo is modernising the way bank accounts work for merchants, businesses and customers, underpinning payments innovation for years to come. PayTo runs on NPP which offers faster and simpler payments to businesses and consumers,” she said.

“NPP is the national infrastructure for real-time payments that commenced rolling out to the Australian public in February 2018. It provides the Australian financial services and payments industry the ability to offer smarter, faster and simpler payments to businesses and consumers, including PayTo. The Platform’s world-leading design and data capabilities makes it one of the most modern payments systems in operation in the world today.”