In a move set to drive payments competition in Australia’s Digital Economy, eftpos today announced that the latest stage of its next-generation eftpos online security technology has gone live with several Australian banks, FinTechs and merchants, including Till Payments, Fat Zebra and EFTEX, set to roll out the capability over the next 12 months.
The new eftpos online security capability is a crucial milestone in evolving Australia’s digital payments ecosystem. It brings to life features designed to keep Australians safe in the Digital Economy including two-factor authentication capability for merchants and their customers.
eftpos’ new sovereign debit scheme online follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision in October that Australian banks are expected to offer and promote Least Cost Routing (LCR) online by the end of 2022.
eftpos chief executive Stephen Benton said the support of banks, FinTechs and payments providers like Till Payments, Fat Zebra and EFTEX will help the solution scale quickly in the Australian market next year and provide benefits for merchants and consumers, including LCR.
Mr Benton said eftpos’ extension further into online payments will quickly drive much needed large-scale competition and should place downward pressure on transaction costs.
“This is a tipping point for eftpos, online Australian businesses and the Digital Economy and it is great to have partners like Till Payments, Fat Zebra and EFTEX onboard,” Mr Benton said. “This is a game-changer for eftpos and Australian retailers because retail is quickly transforming to become an increasingly digital marketplace, accelerated by COVID. Big economic benefits could flow from increased competition in addition to enhanced payments security.
“Our suite of world-class eCommerce products and services are part of a $100m eftpos funded digital upgrade to deliver the next generation of secure payments technology.”
Before today’s announcement, eftpos was already available online for some Card On File payments where banks have implemented the service for their merchant customers, and Deposits and Withdrawal payments via the Beem It mobile wallet. Since launching the eftpos digital service that enables LCR last year, it has been subject to zero fraud.
Mr Benton said eftpos’ security kit bag now included two-factor authentication (3DS), tokenisation, automated Disputes and Chargebacks and a digital identity solution, connectID, with a new fraud detection engine going live in the coming weeks.
Fat Zebra CEO, Pred Dragila, said being an early adopter of eftpos digital has allowed Fat Zebra to optimise how our customers accept payments online in Australia. “It’s a great step forward by eftpos which gives online merchants access to a powerful network bundled with potentially great economic benefit,” Mr Dragila said.
EFTEX General Manager, Ian Sanford said eftpos’ move to online payments was very welcome news for the thousands of Australian small businesses supported by EFTEX’s enterprise merchant, payment facilitator and payment gateway clients. “This eftpos extension will allow eCommerce merchants to securely send millions of more online payments through eftpos, resulting in substantial payment acceptance cost savings for their business and their customers,” Mr Sanford said.
Till Payments Chief Revenue Officer, Chris Hicks, said being at the forefront of security innovations for eCommerce is an invaluable asset for the organisation and its customers. “Australian consumers and businesses are inherently becoming more vulnerable to fraud as we transition to an increasingly digital existence. We’re excited to be partnering with eftpos to be among the first to deploy the security innovations that will strengthen the viability of our national Digital Economy,” Mr Hicks said.