Welcome to the latest edition of our Move to NPP newsletter. We’re thrilled to have you on board as we get ready for Australia’s payments future. The NPP is revolutionising the flow of money, bringing certainty and efficiency to payments for business, government and consumers. 

In this newsletter, you’ll find updates on NPP developments, Payday Super and how we’re engaging with stakeholders to make this move a success.  

In recent months, we’ve seen several inspiring examples of businesses moving to more efficient payments for their customers. One standout is Red Energy. Supported by their payment provider Zepto, they have become the first major utility to offer PayTo to their customers, enabling them to pay their bills directly from their bank 24/7.¹ 

Another success story is the Tasmanian Government's swift adoption of real-time disaster relief payments via Osko. This change means Tasmanians in need can receive disaster relief payments within hours of submitting their application. A post on the Tasmanian Premier’s Facebook page highlighted just how meaningful a real-time payment can be: ‘Thank you, after having no power for six days I did the application for the grant this afternoon, I was expecting it to take weeks to process and it is already in my bank account’. 

These are just two of many examples. We look forward to continuing to share and celebrate the stories of businesses leveraging the NPP. 

The Australian Government’s plan to modernise Australia’s payment system 

The Government has a strategic plan for the future of Australia’s payments system. It’s designed to deliver a modern, world-class and efficient payments system that is safe, trusted, accessible and enables greater competition, innovation and productivity across the economy. 

The planned decommissioning of the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), also known as Direct Entry, is a key feature of the Government’s Strategic Plan to modernise Australia’s payment system.² The Government has identified a significant number of benefits and opportunities for Australia in the move to real-time payments.  

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is also an advocate for the plan to modernise the Australian payments system. The RBA supports the need to wind down legacy payment systems noting that it was appropriate that the industry set the 30 June 2030 target end date for the BECS framework.³

Payday Super

The Treasurer’s recent announcement on Payday Super is building more momentum for the move to NPP. From 1 July 2026, all employers will be required to pay their employees' super at the same time as their salary and wages.

The benefits of Payday Super for employees include; getting their super faster, compounding investment returns, and avoiding the risk of losing their super due to employer insolvency or non-compliance. 

Enabling superannuation payments via NPP will enable employers to meet the obligations of Payday Super. Faster and more efficient payments will help businesses meet the requirement to have super payments arrive in the employee's super fund within seven calendar days of their payday. 

AP+ has held many discussions across the industry following the Payday Super announcement and the feedback has consistently been that industry sees NPP as critical to the implementation of Payday Super.

An important development related to this is the revision of the SuperStream data and payment standards to allow payments via the NPP. This is a key step in helping employers, super clearing houses and superfunds speed the processing of super payments before the 1 July 2026 Payday super deadline.

Engaging the industry on the move to NPP  

AP+ is taking an active role in supporting the movement of payments to the NPP in a structured way through a comprehensive program of work. The work focuses on preparing the NPP for the decommissioning of BECS, including ensuring the NPP has the necessary capacity, reach and resilience. In addition to this, we are focused on building the awareness, education and mobilisation needed across industry and businesses to drive this change.  

AP+ actively engages with industry and payment users through a variety of channels. Here are some of the recent forums we’ve been using to get the message out and to also hear what our stakeholders have to say about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. 

DSPANZ   

We’ve partnered with Digital Service Providers Australia New Zealand (DSPANZ) on a series of payments working groups to drive awareness, education and discussion on the move to NPP. DSPANZ is the non-profit industry association representing the business software sector in Australia and New Zealand and are an important group for influencing change.   

In the most recent payments working group, discussions focused on payroll and super payments to identify the key changes and touch points needed to drive industry readiness.  

If you’re interested in becoming a member of DSPANZ, please visit their website.  

Payment Service Providers Forum  

This is a regular AP+ forum to hear directly from payment service providers (PSPs) and other organisations in the payments ecosystem. At recent forums, AP+ has provided an overview of the work related to transitioning payments to the NPP, including having a standard format for the submission of payment instructions and how to efficiently process large bulk files on the NPP. These discussions have highlighted some of the operational issues associated with processing account to account payments today, particularly in relation to exceptions handling.   

Government workshops 

AP+ recently hosted and participated in a series of workshops with federal and state government agencies to provide updates on the progress towards the move to the NPP and to gather valuable insights from agencies on their needs and requirements relating to the handling of high volumes of payments through BECS. This included an AP+ hosted event in Canberra, attended by key Commonwealth government agencies including Services Australia, the ATO, Treasury and RBA Banking. AP+ has also participated in a recent State and Territory Treasuries roundtable to provide further updates on our program of work.  

These forums serve as a crucial platform for ongoing collaboration and engagement on the move to NPP. 

Understanding end user requirements  

While the NPP currently supports payments in bulk being transitioned to the NPP, AP+ is currently working with industry to determine whether there is a more efficient way to process large bulk payment files on the NPP. 

1. The development was reported in Capital brief and FST Media.
2. A Strategic Plan for Australia's Payments System, June 2023
3. Modernising Australia's Payments System, December 2023

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