TECHNOLOGY

PayID’s Slow Burn: Why Australians Aren’t Using the Smarter Payment Tool

PayID’s Slow Burn: Why Australians Aren’t Using the Smarter Payment Tool

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest consumer payments survey paints a sobering picture for PayID. Launched in 2018 with the New Payments Platform, the service was meant to kill the clunky BSB-and-account-number routine. It hasn't.

Only 30 per cent of Australians used PayID in 2022. Around half had heard of it. That's three years after launch. For a system that promises instant, confirmed transfers, those numbers are underwhelming.

Key Details

PayID lets you link a mobile number, email or ABN to your bank account. No more typing 15 digits. The payer sees the recipient’s name before hitting send. That alone is a fraud-fighting feature. Yet the take-up remains tepid.

The data shows PayID accounts for just 10 per cent of bank transfers. The other 90 per cent? Good old BSB and account numbers. The RBA's survey digs into why. Most people simply say their current methods work fine. They're not wrong. For many, BSB transfers are already fast enough. Others admit they don’t know how to use PayID or lack the tools.

Part of the problem sits with the banks. Some haven’t rolled out PayID at all. Others have, but do a shockingly poor job of explaining it. There’s no marketing blitz, no in-app tutorial, no nudge. You can’t adopt what you don't understand.

Industry Impact

This is a missed opportunity. The NPP can process payments in seconds, 24/7. PayID is the key to making that seamless. Without it, consumers stick to legacy rails. Fraudsters love BSB transfers because there’s no name confirmation. PayID’s verification could cut accidental and malicious misdirection.

The slow burn also affects businesses. An ABN-based PayID makes invoicing and reconciliation simpler. But if customers don't use it, merchants won't push it. It's a chicken-and-egg problem that the banks could solve with a bit of effort.

Here’s the kicker: the infrastructure is world-class. The adoption is not. The RBA’s survey should be a wake-up call. If banks want real-time payments to succeed, they need to sell the benefit, not just switch on the backend. Otherwise, PayID will remain a clever tool that Australians almost use.

Official Source: https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/2023/2023-08/other-payment-methods.html