Mastercard Installments is a BNPL program launching in Australia enabling consumers to access this increasingly popular form of payment across its vast global acceptance network.

• New Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) program gives consumers a flexible, ubiquitous way to pay online and in-store through equal, interest-free installments – an additional choice to debit, credit or prepaid cards.
• Mastercard Installments enables banks, lenders, fintechs and wallets the ability to offer BNPL experiences at merchants with flexibility across the entire acceptance network.
• Seamless integration into Mastercard’s trusted network enables merchants to quickly offer secure BNPL solutions backed by the security and peace of mind that comes with Mastercard.
• Mastercard Installments offers comprehensive consumer protections with respect to responsible data use and fee transparency.
• Mastercard to work with Qantas Loyalty and Latitude in Australia on the BNPL program.

To meet growing consumer demand for flexible, digital-first payment options, Mastercard today unveiled Mastercard Installments, a unique and innovative Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) program that delivers greater choice at checkout, both in-store and online.

Mastercard Installments uses the power of the company’s trusted network to make BNPL available to millions of consumers and merchants worldwide. It enables banks, lenders, fintechs, and wallets to offer a variety of flexible installment options to consumers – including a zero per cent interest, pay-in-four model – without onerous integration into the merchant infrastructure, allowing them to quickly offer secure and competitive BNPL experiences at scale.

Mastercard Installments enables consumers to digitally access BNPL offers, either pre-approved through their lender’s mobile banking app or through instant approval during checkout. Pre-approved installments can be used directly on a merchant’s website, and can be stored in digital wallets including Click-to-Pay, to then be used online or in-store wherever Mastercard is accepted. Instant approvals during checkout will be available through Click-to-Pay shortly after launch. Consumers will have full transparency on lender practices up-front during the approval process, and unlike most current BNPL offerings, consumers will continue to benefit from zero liability fraud protection, the ability to challenge unrecognized charges, and peace of mind that comes with Mastercard’s acceptance footprint.

“At the heart of it, payments come down to choice – and people want more from their money with greater flexibility and control in how they pay and where they shop,” said Craig Vosburg, Chief Product Officer, Mastercard. “Mastercard Installments has been built on our guiding principles to protect consumers and enable choice without sacrificing trust and security. It is a digital-focused way to pay today and tomorrow, delivered through consumer’s most trusted relationships with their banks and other lenders, at merchants of their choice.”

Mastercard Installments builds on Mastercard’s investments in open banking that help deliver a simple and convenient experience for consumers, merchants and lenders. As an elective option for lenders, with consumer consent, account-level transaction histories can be considered as part of the underwriting process, enabling credit to be safely extended to a greater number of shoppers. Open banking technology also facilitates the consumer’s preferred method of repayment, which may be their checking or savings account, a Mastercard debit card, or another payment product.

Key benefits of Mastercard Installments include:

• Consumers: The Mastercard Installments program enables consumers to choose how and when they pay for items from a brand they can trust. Consumers enjoy a seamless experience before and after checkout through options to access BNPL offers, or secure an offer at the time of checkout, from trusted lenders for use at a variety of merchants interest-free. As consumer protection is paramount at Mastercard, Mastercard Installments provides ubiquitous acceptance backed by zero liability fraud protection, not yet available through most current BNPL offerings.
• Merchants & Acquiring Banks: The Mastercard Installments program helps merchants scale BNPL offerings to consumers to turn convenience into a competitive advantage. BNPL solutions have been shown to increase average sales by 45 percent and reduce cart abandonment by 35 percent post-implementation*. Mastercard Installments provides seamless merchant integration with a streamlined process for millions of merchants who already accept Mastercard. Meanwhile, acquiring banks can offer installments capabilities to their entire merchant base with minimal, simple integration.
• Lenders: Through the Mastercard Installments Program, lenders can offer a flexible, seamless BNPL experience to both existing and new customers, expanding their lending opportunities in one of the fastest-growing consumer segments. Mastercard Installments provides an expedited time to market and global expansion opportunities with a responsible lending approach.
• Wallets and BNPL players: Digital wallets and BNPL players can easily integrate Mastercard Installments’ APIs and deploy the solution to consumers and already integrated merchants, extending reach beyond their existing footprint. Mastercard Installments is embedded in the core Mastercard network, which means there is no longer a need for wallets and BNPL players to build direct settlement arrangements with merchants or acquirers. BNPL providers can also supplement their existing networks with additional merchant acceptance.

Fuelled by changing consumer spending habits during the pandemic, BNPL adoption continues to accelerate globally. In addition to consumer demand, the momentum is being driven by issuer and merchant desire to deliver new, complementary ways for consumers to shop both in-store and online.

Also read Small Business Answers guide to Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)

Australian start-up Loyalty Republic is introducing Australia’s first bank and card agnostic direct earn rewards program to democratise loyalty and make rewards accessible and fair for anyone using a debit card.

The Loyalty Republic mobile app will place consumers in control of their rewards earning potential and redemption options, with a simplified model offering 1 point per $1 spent on debit card purchases anywhere. Loyalty Republic already has a growing portfolio of more than 100 in-store and online partners including Boost Mobile, Adairs, T2, Windsor Smith, Bundll, PAS Group, Athletes Foot, Ally Fashion and LuLuLemon, and has in excess of 3,500 products and 250 gift cards available for redemption via its eMall.

In the 12 months to July 2021, approximately $418bn was spent on debit cards in Australia, but an estimated 75% ($313bn) of this spend is not being rewarded at all. Loyalty Republic challenges existing models by no longer limiting direct earn rewards to credit card spend or airline travel and focuses on placing consumer value and freedom of choice at the core of the rewards experience.  

“17.5m Australians are enrolled in at least one loyalty program, but less than half of them actively participate. Our aim is to disrupt the siloed rewards landscape by offering greater value and open up loyalty and choice to consumers and participating partners – more real-time rewards, more often, for more consumers, and freedom and flexibility that makes it accessible for large, medium and small businesses,” said Katrina Gravelle, Co-Managing Director, Loyalty Republic.

“We know people love to support businesses that increase their ability to earn more points and unlock greater rewards. With this in mind, we want to be a true partner to businesses by helping to build stronger customer value propositions that leverage consumers’ affinity to loyalty, while putting an end to margin-diluting discounts.”

As part of its commitment to small businesses, Loyalty Republic will make it easier and more rewarding for consumers to shop local. The app will use location-based technology to offer bonus points that encourage consumers to shop with local businesses and incentivise them to visit in-store, rather than using delivery services – helping businesses retain more margin and engage more with customers.

Small businesses can participate in the Your Local^TM program for a low-cost monthly fee. The program is currently in BETA and is free to small businesses for the first three months.

Synology Inc. has announced the launch of its newest Synology C2 cloud application. C2 provides powerful and efficient data protection for Windows devices, whether they are located at home or distributed across multiple offices.

“With C2, we provide a fresh alternative for those who want to centralize protection of their devices, wherever they are,” said Yen-ju Lin, Product Manager at Synology Inc. “It is easy to set up and use, and requires no additional hardware to protect Windows devices, allowing users to start backing up today.”

Complete and centralized data protection

With C2 Backup For Individuals and C2 Backup For Businesses, everything on Windows PCs and servers can be securely and efficiently backed up from a single console. This includes system configurations and software, files and folders, and external drives.

Data backed up on C2 is fully shielded against unauthorized access by end-to-end AES-256 encryption, with a user-held private key necessary to unlock backup files and sensitive information.

Flexible ways to schedule backups

C2 makes use of forever-incremental backup to optimize storage and bandwidth. 
Incremental backup reduces the amount of data uploaded for every backup to only those blocks that have changed, making backups more efficient.

Each subscriber can set their own individual version retention preferences. Retention policies can be tailored to meet individual needs or comply with corporate policies and regulations.

Finally, C2 offers scheduling strategies to make sure that users never miss a backup. Users can choose to periodically execute backup tasks, or they can let them be triggered by events such as screen locking, account logout, or device power-up.

Fast and full restoration options

In the event of device failure, data loss, or ransomware attacks, C2 fast recovery methods allow users to quickly resume services. File-level recovery allows you to retrieve any file you need immediately, while entire devices can be restored to their previous state with bare-metal recovery.

“Individual device owners can easily find and quickly download their backed up data all by themselves by accessing the intuitive Backup console,” Ms Lin said. “Clear versioning also allows users to retrieve older copies of their files from the portal when needed.”

Unlimited endpoints and transparent pricing

Pricing for Individuals is based on storage use, with no limit to the number of devices protected under each subscription. Annual subscription rates start at $2.50 per month for 300 GB of backed up data or under $8.50 per month to protect up to 2 TB.

Availability C2 Backup

C2 is offered in two subscription plans: C2 Backup For Individuals and C2 Backup For Businesses. 

Users who register for C2 Backup For Individuals until the end of 2021 are offered an extended 90-day free trial period, allowing them to thoroughly test the new platform’s capabilities.

C2 Backup For Business will additionally let Microsoft 365 users back up data stored on Exchange Online.

To understand more about why you need to backup read Small Business Answers Guide to backup.

SiteMinder, the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform, has released its global consumer research, The Dynamic Traveller: A New Era Of Hotel Guest, which looks into the plans, behaviours and perspectives of travellers from around the world. The report’s launch, which coincides with World Tourism Day, identifies an emergence of the ‘workation’ globally and Australians’ lack of interest in taking advantage of this growing trend. 

According to the survey of approximately 7,000 travellers internationally, including 804 in Australia, over 60% of Australians plan to travel either the same amount (35%) or more (25%) than prior to Covid. Less than 2% say they will never travel again, which is down from around 8% this time last year. 

Alongside this upcoming bounceback in travel, roughly a quarter of Australian travellers see themselves adding working hours to their holiday time this year. This was comparable to travellers in the UK (21%), though was significantly lower than counterparts in the United States (41%) and Thailand (51%). 

Not all Australian professionals are looking at ways to combine their personal travel with work obligations, however. More than half (54%) said they definitely do not plan to work during an upcoming trip. This was again similar to British travellers (61%), higher than American travellers (39%) and much higher than travellers from Thailand (15%).

With the recent growth and normalisation of remote working due to the coronavirus pandemic, the survey results reflect the way Australian professionals are seeking to separate their holidays from their work to strike a work-life balance. Flexibility is likely to remain high on the agenda for professionals, though business leaders would be hasty to assume new broad-sweeping policies related to workation would be well-received by everyone. 

Mark Renshaw, Chief Marketing Officer at SiteMinder, explained, “The biggest learning from the pandemic when it comes to business leadership and people management is that we need to do away with the rulebook and how things have traditionally been done. Our teams now expect flexible workplaces and options to define work-life balance in their own unique ways.”

During the pandemic, SiteMinder introduced its own Open Working @ SiteMinder policy, whereby staff were able to select from three different ways of working, including working completely remotely, from the office, or a blend of the two. This initiative, among various others that aimed to increase communication and collaboration across the business, led to an increase in employee engagement. 

Renshaw continued, “In the last 18 months, every industry, including the travel and hotel sectors, experienced changes. We saw shifts from international travel to local road trips, a rise in last-minute bookings, and a transition from corporate travel to leisure staycations. The next travel trend for hoteliers and business leaders to understand is the ‘workation’, which will require a new way of thinking to ensure employees feel heard and their expectations of flexibility are met. Importantly, it will require business leaders to understand that, while their people may have sought to tack leisure on to their business trips prior to the pandemic, they’re not as keen to bring business with them as they holiday.”

Beyond workation other findings from the Australian survey include: 

• Nearly four out of five Australian travellers are very supportive (9%), supportive (33%) or indifferent (37%) about their personal data being used to better their stay, such as through personalised marketing or experiential efforts. Only 7% of Australian travellers are strongly opposed to their data being used in this way. 
• When sharing payment information, only 12% of Australian travellers trust accommodation providers with their data a lot, while over a third either don’t trust accommodation providers much (24%) or at all (10%). 
• More than a quarter (27%) of Australian travellers still intend to book via an OTA and 10% via google or other search engines for their upcoming trip, highlighting the ongoing importance of being listed on digital channels.

Click here to download the full The Dynamic Traveller: A New Era of Hotel Guest report.

Click here to download the Australian report.

Australian report methodology: In mid-June 2021, SiteMinder digitally surveyed more than 800 members of the Australian public who were 18+ years of age, located in Australia, and had travelled at least once a year for leisure prior to Covid. 

Australia’s leading professional accounting body has published ten questions it says governments must answer to give businesses the certainty they need to re-open business or continue trading under state and territory roadmaps.

CPA Australia says that without answers to these questions (listed below), some businesses may remain closed or restrict their trading even after lockdowns end, uncertain about what they can and can’t do.

“Re-opening roadmaps are a positive development and we’re keen to see more of them,” said CPA Australia Chief Executive Andrew Hunter. “But so far they’ve raised many unanswered questions.

“Uncertainty creates risks that have potential costs and consequences. Each business must factor these into its decision on re-opening and how to trade.

“We’re aware of regional businesses which are choosing not to open now, even though they can, because the uncertainty is too great.

“After speaking with our members and business owners, we’ve created a list of questions about roadmaps which are causing the greatest uncertainty to re-open business.

“Although businesses can obtain legal advice for some questions, this creates an undue burden, especially for small businesses.

“Governments must answer these questions. They should not leave it to the private sector to muddle its way through. If they don’t provide answers, you’re likely to have as many different approaches as there are businesses in Australia.”

CPA Australia will raise these questions in our meetings with state and territory governments. We’re confident answers will be provided eventually, but we want the flow of information expedited to set businesses up for a successful re-opening.

“It’s going to take time for businesses to meet new COVID-safe and vaccination requirements and adequately train their employees. The more time they have to work through these issues, the better prepared they’ll be.”

We’re also calling on governments to ensure answers to roadmap questions are readily accessible.

“One of the problems we’re seeing, which has been a systemic issue since the pandemic began, is that information is held by numerous government departments, agencies and organisations.

“Businesses are chasing their tails trying to figure out where to go for answers. This increases the likelihood that mistakes will be made and there will be compliance breaches.

“Ideally, we’d like each state and territory to develop a one stop shop of detailed roadmap answers to re-open business.”

Businesses and their customers

1. Once lockdown restrictions ease, what businesses and venues will be required to deny entry or in-person services to unvaccinated people? 

2. Other than businesses required to serve vaccinated people only, can any other businesses deny entry or in-person services to unvaccinated people?

3. Can businesses request information on the vaccination status of a customer before allowing them entry or providing services?

4. If a person has a medical exemption from being vaccinated, can the business ask for proof, and is the person required to provide it to gain entry or services?

Businesses and their employees

5. Can businesses require employees and contractors to undertake a rapid antigen test immediately before starting a shift or providing in-person services?

6. If vaccination is mandated for an industry, can the business terminate or stand down employees who refuse to be vaccinated, and does this change if vaccination is not mandated for an industry?

7. Can businesses request evidence of an employee’s or contractor’s vaccination status before allowing them into the workplace?

8. Once the 80 per cent fully vaccinated level is reached if individual employees are required to quarantine, can the business stand them down and, if so, will government financial support be available to these employees?

Managing future closures

9. Once the 80 per cent fully vaccinated level is reached, if an employee, contractor or customer of a business is a confirmed COVID case, will all close contacts of the infected person need to quarantine for 14 days?

10. If a business is required by government to close due to a targeted lockdown, or quarantining of employees or contractors who are close contacts, and this significantly disrupts turnover, what financial support will be available to that business?

• CBA puts millions back in small businesses’ pockets through lower merchant fees.
• CBA takes the hassle out of Least Cost Routing for small businesses by automatically routing transactions.
• CBA waives $7m in merchant fees before Christmas for businesses hardest hit by COVID.

Commonwealth Bank is making payments simpler for small businesses, announcing new competitive flat rates for all in-store and online payment transactions for eligible merchant customers*.

To lower the cost of doing business, CBA will be offering 1.1 per cent for all in-store card transactions and 1.5 per cent for online transactions, regardless of the interchange rate or the type of card (debit, credit or Amex).

CBA will also take the hassle out of payments by automatically routing transactions between eftpos and international schemes for eligible small business customers. CBA will centrally route transactions in the most cost-effective and competitive way, so businesses don’t have to spend their valuable time managing their routing options.

CBA’s Executive General Manager, Everyday Business Banking, James Fowle, said today’s announcement follows feedback from its merchant customers on Least Cost Routing (LCR) over recent months. The overwhelming message is small businesses want things simpler, easier and cheaper. 

“The overwhelming feedback from our small business customers is that they want simple competitive pricing without the hassle. They want the benefit from least cost routing without having to manage the routing themselves,” Mr Fowle said.

“Our new flat rates are designed to offer that by removing complex pricing structures and managing the routing of transactions for them. We’ll automatically and centrally route transactions in the most cost-effective and competitive way, saving businesses a lot of time and money.”

Simplifying the process, even more, this low-cost rate will become the default, and eligible small businesses will automatically receive the reduced single rate from October 2021 onwards with no need to ‘opt in’ or apply.

“We’re taking the guesswork out of it for small businesses who don’t have the time to individually assess and compare the costs associated with different schemes. The flat rates also provide our customers with an easy way to recover their costs through surcharging at a single rate,” Mr Fowle said.

To provide a further cash injection in the lead up to Christmas, CBA will automatically waive three months of merchant fees for small businesses that have been hardest hit by the latest COVID lockdowns. This equates to more than $7 million back into the pockets of merchant customers.

“From next week, we’ll be letting more than 50,000 customers know we are automatically waiving their standard merchant fees for three months from September through to November. This translates into approximately $7million back into their pockets leading up to Christmas,” said Mr Fowle.

CBA said a further $3 million has been refunded to merchants experiencing financial difficulty since the start of the pandemic. Any merchant customers experiencing financial hardship can contact CBA for a refund on various applicable fees for up to 90 days.

Today’s announcement complements the recent release of StepPay, another CBA initiative supporting Australian small businesses. While traditional Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products charge merchants a fee of up to seven per cent, StepPay only charges merchants credit card transaction processing fees which are substantially lower than traditional BNPL products.  This puts savings back into the pockets of smaller businesses and helps to level the playing field by allowing them to better compete with those who can pay higher BNPL costs. In addition, merchants do not need to incur integration costs or face disruptions with their Point of Sale systems and Online check outs, as StepPay is processed in the same way as credit card transactions are processed today. 

As CBA has done throughout the COVID pandemic, we will continue to look for ways to support our small business customers to help them recover as lockdowns are lifted, and they open back up.

*Eligible CBA small business customers with turnover equal to or less than $250,000 will have the new simple rates automatically applied from October 2021. 

To learn more read Small Business Answers guide to EFTPOS and accepting credit cards

D-Link has launched its new DCS-6500LH Compact Full HD Pan & Tilt and DCS-6100LH Compact Full HD Sleek and Discreet Security Cameras.

Sleek and discreet, the Compact DCS-6100LH Full HD Wi-Fi Camera blends enhanced Smart Home Surveillance features with a stylish, subtle design. IR Night Vision, together with Sound and Motion Detection, alerts you instantly when something unexpected happens. Giving you extra peace of mind with the latest in-home security camera technology. 

The DCS-6100LH brings crystal clear surveillance as it allows you to monitor your home in Full HD 1080p resolution with a wide-angle 110-degree Field of View (FOV), day or night, making it the perfect 24/7 home security companion. Designed to be stylish, subtle and simple to use, it’s ideal for discreet placement anywhere throughout your home.

The DCS-6100LH’s built-in Sound and Motion Detection enables you to trigger alerts that are automatically sent to your mobile device, and the video clip recordings let you stay aware of what’s going on at all times in your home – and yes, it’s ideal as a baby monitor or office camera as well.

If you’re worried that you’ll lose all your camera footage the DCS-6100LH Compact Full HD Wi-Fi Camera lets you record snapshots and video clips to the cloud for anytime access. You can also playback recordings from the cloud or download footage to your mobile device from anywhere, anytime through the Internet.

The DCS-6500LH Compact Full HD Pan & Tilt Wi-Fi Camera gives you 340° views. Its Pan & Tilt technology allows you to see virtually every angle of any room. With Motion and Sound Detection and Night Vision that provides up to five metres of monitoring in complete darkness, this all-seeing watchful eye alerts you to anything or anyone that moves inside your home. 

The DCS-6500LH camera’s clever Auto Motion Tracking means that the Compact Full HD Pan & Tilt Wi-Fi Camera turns into an all-seeing, highly responsive, roving eye that pans and tilts to track objects no matter where they move – automatically. Now that is clever.

There’s also maximum discretion with Privacy Mode as D-Link understands that there’s nothing more sacred than privacy in the comfort of your own home. You can easily turn on Privacy Mode via the mydlink app, and the lens is covered completely, giving you maximum control over your privacy whenever you need it.

Both the DCS-6100LH and the DCS-6500LH lets you record snapshots and video clips to the cloud for anytime access and playback, and there are multiple cloud subscription offers to maximise your recording options too.

Both cameras work with the Google Assistant and Alexa, so you can use voice controls to, amongst other things, stream live video from your camera to compatible devices such as the Amazon Echo Show, Echo Spot or the Google Chromecast.

Both cameras also use the very latest in WPA3™ encryption for even more protection.

As with all D-Link devices, you get more control with the mydlink app which makes looking after your home easier than ever. You can manage, control and set automation scenarios for these two new cameras, and indeed all your mydlink cameras, anytime or anywhere.

The DCS-6500LH and the DCS-6100LH D sleek and discreet security cameras are available now from www.dlink.com.au (RRP $99.95 and $79.95) from all authorised D-Link partners and retailers.

To learn more read Small Business Answers guide to wireless security cameras.

In a world of online reviews and big-box retailers saturating almost every market, earning customer trust and keeping customers engaged has never been more important for small businesses. Marcus Marchant, CEO of Vistaprint Australia, the marketing partner to millions of small businesses worldwide, shares this sentiment. “More than ever, customers are faced with never-ending options. While you may have the best product or service on the market, trust and credibility is what sets you apart from other businesses and encourages new customers to take up your offer.”

With all this said, earning trust (especially online) can be tricky. Here are Marcus’ top four ways to keeping customers engaged:

• Provide outstanding customer service. Customer service has been known to make or break businesses, and people have really come to expect a more friendly, authentic experience from small businesses in particular. Pay attention to all the interactions (big or small) you have with your current and potential customers.
• Have a clear satisfaction guarantee and honour it. When trying something new, prospective customers feel at ease knowing they have a fallback if something doesn’t meet their expectations. At Vistaprint, we have an Absolutely Guaranteed policy that has really resonated with our base. We encourage customers to get in touch if they aren’t happy with their order and stop at nothing to make it right.
• Build a credible online presence. Most of your customers will do an online search before trusting you with their business, so you want to ensure your website and social media emphasise your reliability and professionalism. Customer testimonials and reviews, both on your website and on review sites, can also have a significant impact on your reputation.
• Make sure your social media hits the mark. Your social media is a great personalised touchpoint for your customers. Show your brand’s personality on it. Go above and beyond to respond to customer comments within 24 hours or share helpful information and tips.

If you’re working hard to win trust, it’s also worthwhile to look at the ways you might be losing it. Marchant says, “While it can be easy to get caught up in short-term sales and quick wins, focusing on these outcomes entirely can sometimes negatively impact the relationship you’ve built with customers.” Here are some of the other ways you might be losing out:

• Your marketing is overly promotional. While everyone loves a discount, having a highly promotional website can often make customers wonder, “What’s the catch?” Be strategic about when you run sales to avoid creating this perception.
• Your final prices are unclear. If your prices don’t reflect any large or unexpected fees, your customers may feel like they are being tricked. Make additional fees clear upfront so customers know what to expect when making their final transaction.
• Your customer interactions feel generic. Whether through email, your Facebook page, or on the phone, it’s important to tailor your customer communications at every touchpoint. People come to small businesses for personalised interaction, so don’t ignore that differentiator by making your responses automated.
• You have a broken website or incorrect details. Your customers (potential and current) need to feel like you’re there for them. If they can’t use your website or find up-to-date contact details, they’ll be more likely to take their business elsewhere (or leave a bad review).

Just remember that if you make business decisions with your customers in mind (Keeping customers engaged) at the end of the day, they’ll take note and reward you in kind with their trust and business.

For more advice see Small business Answers guide to Social Media.

Business management platform MYOB will enable businesses to “set and forget” recurring payments via direct debit capability. The new functionality, MYOB Direct Debit, rounds out MYOB’s invoice payment workflow with a deeply integrated experience.

MYOB’s current invoice payments solution is helping businesses get paid three times faster than those who do not harness software. MYOB Direct Debit targets a further reduction of payment times, freeing business owners to manage customer payments differently.

MYOB anonymised customer data demonstrates that 75% of payment volume is recurring. On average, a business receives six repeat payments per year from the same customer, with typical recipients spanning gardeners, cleaners, bookkeepers, and gyms. The new recurring direct debit transaction service will allow subscription services to seamlessly receive payments and greatly reduce time spent chasing payments.

Through the improved MYOB invoicing workflow, businesses can request payment of an invoice through a built-in “pay now” button or set up a recurring direct debit. The invoice and subsequent payments are reconciled automatically to the profit and loss report, enabling a fully automated end to end invoicing workflow.

Andrew Baines, General Manager of Financial Services at MYOB, said the new capability will ease known business pressures for SMEs.

“The time businesses are spending on chasing down late payments – particularly for those with recurring payment schedules – is a pressure that’s increasing for our customers. MYOB Business Monitor shows extreme pressure caused by late payments from customers rose from 25% in January 2021 to 29% in June 2021. This is time business owners could otherwise spend on growing their business.

“MYOB has designed this recurring transaction service to be as pain-free as possible. The streamlined consent process means that the business owner’s job is done as soon as the customer provides their approval.

“This is the latest update of our invoicing workflow, which is designed to automate the process of getting paid as much as possible. Automating payment reminder messaging and invoice reconciliation are seemingly small features that provide a big return in time for a business. We are regularly improving this workflow to give businesses back as many hours as we can so they can get back to doing what they love.”

Harry Linden owns Lakesview Accounting Solutions, a two-person business delivering bookkeeping and BAS solutions for small business clients. Harry has been trialling MYOB Direct Debit as a participant of MYOB’s early access program and believes streamlining administration tasks are a key part of future-proofing a business.

“The role of the bookkeeper is about to change. AI, automated payment generation and end to end streamlining free up the bookkeeper to focus on higher-value pieces of work, like consulting my clients on strategic ways to run and grow their business. Features like this present an opportunity for me to expand my offering for my customers.

“Simplified payments mean for small business owners like me; the future’s a lot more predictable. You can better plan your movements in the understanding that your cash flow reporting will be a lot more accurate. You’re spending less time chasing people up for payments and worrying about making your payment commitments. It gives the business control,” Harry said.

Set and forget payments are now available for businesses to use in AccountRight Live and new Essentials at a competitive rate of 0.7% plus 25c per transaction with a $4 cap.  Other features include a simple to digest dashboard that summarises all live, paused or past recurring payments.

MYOB Direct Debit is another improvement to the invoicing workflow, which was also recently integrated with Butn’s invoice financing functionality, which is now available to all new Essentials customers, providing access to short-term cashflow smoothing facilities for businesses.

For more information on MYOB Direct Debit, visit https://www.myob.com/au/comms/business/myob-direct-debit

Small Business Answers has a guide on accounting software to run your business.