Australian Payments Plus

Australian Payments Plus, commonly known as AP+, is an Australian domestic payments organisation formed by bringing together BPAY Group, eftpos and NPP Australia. It operates payment schemes and related services used by banks, merchants, payment providers, businesses, governments and consumers, including BPAY, eftpos, the New Payments Platform, PayID, Osko and PayTo.^[1][2]

Background and formation

Australian Payments Plus was created from an industry proposal to consolidate three major domestic payment organisations: BPAY Group, eftpos Payments Australia and NPP Australia. The proposal was lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which authorised the amalgamation on 9 September 2021 after accepting a court-enforceable undertaking from the parties.^[1] AP+ has described the combined organisation as having come together in February 2022, bringing BPAY Group, eftpos Australia and NPP Australia into one consolidated entity for the Australian payments market.^[2]

The three constituent systems occupied different parts of the payments landscape. BPAY was associated with bill payments initiated through financial institutions; eftpos was the domestic debit card and point-of-sale payments network; and NPP Australia operated the New Payments Platform, the fast account-to-account infrastructure that supports real-time data-rich payments.^[1][6] The consolidation was therefore not simply a merger of like-for-like competitors. In its authorisation decision, the ACCC stated that at a high level the services of BPAY, eftpos and NPPA did not compete closely, while also considering concerns about the effect of the merger on eftpos, least-cost routing and broader competition in payments.^[1]

The merger reflected a broader period of transition in Australian payments. Card payments, digital wallets, online commerce, real-time transfers and account-to-account payment services were becoming more central to households, merchants and banks. AP+ was intended to place several domestic payment rails and brands under a single parent company and board, while maintaining the underlying schemes and distinct brands.^[7] This structure made AP+ a significant private-sector infrastructure institution within Australia’s retail payments system, alongside the public-policy roles of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the competition-law role of the ACCC.

Schemes, services and brands

AP+ brings together three core domestic payment businesses: BPAY, eftpos and NPP Australia.^[1][2] Each is associated with a different payment use case, although the boundaries between payment types have become less distinct as mobile banking, wallets, online checkout and account-to-account services have developed.

BPAY is widely used for bill payments. It allows consumers and businesses to make payments to billers through their bank or other financial institution channels. Within AP+, BPAY remains a distinct brand and scheme, and AP+ has referred to work on “BPAY Next Generation” as part of its product and scheme-development activity.^[5]

eftpos is the domestic debit card scheme in Australia. It is associated with payments at point of sale and, increasingly, digital and mobile channels. The ACCC paid particular attention to eftpos in the merger authorisation because eftpos provides a domestic alternative to international card schemes and because its routing can affect merchant payment costs.^[1] AP+ has described initiatives including eftpos mobile least-cost routing, and the ACCC undertaking associated with the merger included commitments to prescribed services, many of which were intended to strengthen eftpos and support competition with international card schemes.^[5][8]

NPP Australia operates the New Payments Platform, or NPP. The NPP enables participating financial institutions to send and receive fast, data-rich account-to-account payments on a 24-hour basis.^[6] NPP services include PayID, which allows payments to be addressed using identifiers such as a phone number, Australian Business Number or email address rather than only a BSB and account number.^[6] Osko, another AP+ brand, uses the NPP to provide fast person-to-person and business payments through participating financial institutions.^[3]

PayTo is an account-to-account payment initiation and authorisation service associated with the NPP. AP+ has described PayTo as a modern alternative to direct debits and a service that supports third-party payment initiation more generally.^[9] In practice, PayTo is relevant to recurring payments, subscriptions, account-based commerce and other cases in which a payer authorises a payment arrangement from a bank account rather than using a card or traditional direct debit.

AP+ also includes Beem, a consumer payments brand previously operated by eftpos.^[3] The combination of these businesses gives AP+ a portfolio spanning card-present debit payments, bill payment, fast account-to-account payments, payment addressing and account-based payment mandates.

Ownership and governance

AP+ is a member-owned organisation. Public descriptions of its membership and shareholders identify a broad payments-industry ownership base, including domestic and international banks, major retailers, payment service providers and payment processors.^[10] AusPayNet’s 2025 statement on account-to-account infrastructure collaboration listed AP+ shareholders including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Bank of Queensland, Macquarie Bank, Coles, Woolworths, Cuscal, Fiserv, HSBC Bank Australia, ING Bank Australia, PayPal, Tyro Payments, Wise Australia, Adyen Australia, WorldPay and other payment-sector firms.^[11]

The ownership structure is relevant because payments infrastructure often involves network effects and coordination among competitors. Banks, merchants and processors may compete in customer-facing markets while also needing shared technical, operational and scheme arrangements for payments to function. AP+ sits in this space as an industry-owned operator and scheme administrator rather than as a deposit-taking bank, prudential regulator or central bank.

AP+ states that its governance framework is intended to support safe, efficient, fair, accessible and resilient payment services for the Australian community, and to ensure decisions are made in the long-term interests of AP+ and stakeholders including financial institutions, payment service providers, businesses and consumers.^[12] Its board and management therefore operate in a setting where commercial, operational and public-interest considerations can overlap.

Regulation and public-policy context

AP+ is not a government regulator. The central public authority for payments-system policy in Australia is the Reserve Bank of Australia, operating through powers and responsibilities that include the Payments System Board. The RBA describes the Payments System Board as having a responsibility to exercise its powers in a way directed to the greatest advantage of the people of Australia, with attention to competition, efficiency and stability in the payments system.^[13]

The ACCC’s role is different. It focuses on competition and consumer-law issues, including merger authorisations and conduct that may affect competition. In the AP+ merger, the ACCC authorised the combination after accepting a court-enforceable undertaking. The ACCC said it did not consider the merger would substantially lessen competition in any payments market after taking that undertaking into account.^[1]

The undertaking was significant because it addressed concerns raised during the authorisation process. AP+ and the payments-industry applicants publicly stated that the undertaking included commitments to deliver specified payments innovations over the following two years, that most of these were intended to strengthen eftpos and its ability to compete with international card schemes, and that an independent auditor would report to the ACCC for four years.^[8]

One policy issue linked to AP+ is least-cost routing. Least-cost routing refers to a merchant’s ability to choose whether eligible dual-network debit card transactions are processed through eftpos or through international debit card networks such as Visa or Mastercard, affecting the fees paid by the merchant.^[1] Because AP+ operates eftpos while its bank and merchant members participate in broader card markets, regulators and industry participants have treated least-cost routing as an important competition and cost issue.

AP+ also operates within the broader reform agenda for account-to-account payments. In 2025, the ACCC granted interim authorisation to Australian Payments Network Limited and Australian Payments Plus Limited for discussions and information sharing with industry participants, the RBA and Treasury in connection with a common industry vision for the future of account-to-account payments infrastructure in Australia.^[14] This reflects the transition from older bulk electronic clearing arrangements toward newer real-time and data-rich infrastructure, including the NPP.

Role in Australia’s payments infrastructure

AP+ is important because it operates domestic alternatives to internationally branded card and payment networks. Domestic payment schemes can affect the bargaining position of merchants, banks and payment processors, and may support local product design, resilience and policy responsiveness. The merger proposal was publicly framed as a way to create a more coordinated domestic payments organisation, with BPAY, eftpos and NPP continuing as separate schemes and brands.^[7]

In retail payments, infrastructure operators such as AP+ provide rules, standards, technical connectivity, scheme governance, brand management and service development. They typically do not hold consumer deposits or provide bank accounts directly. Instead, banks and other payment service providers connect to the schemes and offer payment services to end users. This makes AP+ a business-to-business and infrastructure entity whose services are visible to consumers mainly through brands and functions embedded in bank apps, merchant terminals, biller systems or online checkout flows.

The New Payments Platform is one of the most important parts of AP+ from an infrastructure perspective. It supports near real-time settlement-style payment experiences for consumers and businesses, although the exact customer experience depends on the financial institution, overlay service and use case. The RBA has described NPP functionality as including PayID and fast account-to-account capabilities.^[6] AP+ has described NPP payments as real-time, data-rich payments available every day of the year, with funds transferred in close to real time.^[9]

BPAY continues to occupy a role in bills and structured payments. Many Australian billers include BPAY biller codes and customer reference numbers on invoices, and the scheme is embedded in banking channels. Its integration into AP+ means the bill-payment network sits alongside NPP and eftpos development programs, potentially allowing future products to combine structured biller information, account-to-account payments and modern payer authorisation methods.

eftpos gives AP+ a role in card-present and debit card payment economics. The ACCC’s attention to eftpos reflected concerns that a domestic debit network should continue to provide competition and support merchant choice.^[1] The development of eftpos digital services, mobile least-cost routing and other prescribed services was therefore not only a technology matter but also part of the competitive structure of Australian card payments.^[5][8]

Product development and strategic themes

AP+ product-roadmap materials have identified workstreams including Confirmation of Payee for BSB and account-number payments, BPAY Next Generation, eftpos mobile least-cost routing and migration of some payments from the Bulk Electronic Clearing System to the NPP.^[2][5] These initiatives indicate the organisation’s emphasis on fraud mitigation, account-to-account modernisation, debit-card competition and scheme harmonisation.

Confirmation of Payee is intended to help a payer check name or account-match information before completing a payment.^[2] In a payments market affected by scams and misdirected payments, such services can be important to consumer protection and operational integrity. They also show how AP+ infrastructure can become part of banks’ front-end customer controls, even when AP+ is not itself the customer’s bank.

The migration from older bulk payment systems to NPP-based account-to-account payments is another major theme. AP+ has referred to continued migration of payments from BECS to the NPP and to coordination with industry on the future of account-to-account payments.^[5][14] BECS has historically supported bulk direct-entry payments such as payroll, supplier payments and direct debits, while the NPP supports faster and richer payment messages. Migration raises operational questions for banks, businesses, payroll providers, billers and software platforms.

PayTo is particularly relevant to this transition. By allowing a payer to authorise a payment agreement linked to an account, it can perform some functions historically handled by direct debit while adding more modern consent, visibility and data features.^[9] Its adoption depends on financial-institution readiness, merchant and biller integration, customer familiarity and the business case compared with cards and existing direct-entry arrangements.

Competition issues and market significance

AP+ is central to debates about payments competition because it combines infrastructure that can both complement and compete with other payment networks. eftpos competes with international card schemes for debit transaction routing. NPP and PayTo may compete with card-based and direct-debit payment methods for some account-to-account use cases. BPAY competes with other bill and invoice payment options. At the same time, all of these systems depend on participation by banks and payment service providers that may have their own commercial interests in cards, wallets, merchant acquiring and account services.

The ACCC’s 2021 decision is therefore a key reference point for understanding AP+. The regulator concluded that the merger, with the undertaking, was not likely to substantially lessen competition in any payments market.^[1] However, the need for a court-enforceable undertaking and independent monitoring shows that the merger raised policy concerns that were material enough to require safeguards.^[8]

AP+ also has relevance for merchants. Payment acceptance costs, routing options, debit competition and the availability of account-to-account alternatives can influence how merchants configure point-of-sale systems and online checkout options. For consumers, AP+ is usually less visible as an institution, but its brands and services affect how quickly payments move, how bills are paid, how payment identifiers are used and what payment choices are available in bank apps and merchant settings.

Relationship to other Australian financial institutions

AP+ is distinct from prudentially regulated banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank. Banks provide deposit accounts, lending and customer relationships; AP+ operates shared payment schemes and infrastructure used by banks and other participants. Some large banks are shareholders or participants in AP+, but AP+ itself is not a bank.

AP+ is also distinct from market operators such as the Australian Securities Exchange, which operates securities and derivatives markets and related post-trade infrastructure. AP+ operates in retail and account-to-account payments rather than securities trading.

Its public-policy environment overlaps with several Australian official bodies. The Reserve Bank of Australia has payments-system regulatory responsibilities, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission regulates financial services and consumer-credit conduct in relevant areas, and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority supervises banks and other prudentially regulated financial institutions. AP+ is therefore part of the financial-market infrastructure landscape, but it occupies a specialised payments role rather than a general regulatory or banking role.

See also

Related Australian payments topics include the New Payments Platform, eftpos, BPAY, PayID, Osko, PayTo, least-cost routing, the Bulk Electronic Clearing System and Australian Payments Network. These topics are closely connected to AP+ because they describe the schemes, services, routing rules and legacy infrastructure that shape Australia’s retail payments market.