Eftpos revamps payment network

 

POS, sale, check out, registerEftpos has confirmed it will start building a centralised payments hub aimed at revitalising the company’s core network and bring new domestic products to market significantly faster.

Bruce Mansfield, MD of Eftpos, said the company had signed an agreement with FIS to build the new hub which was designed to process millions of eftpos transactions every day, and streamline the work associated with product enhancements, such as eftpos contactless, online, and mobile payments.

Mansfield said the hub would replace a network of complex bilateral links between financial institutions and merchants which started when eftpos cards were first launched in the Australian market in the 1980s.

“This new hub has the potential to be one of the most significant developments in Australia’s payments industry since eftpos cards first entered the market almost 30 years ago,” Mansfield said.

“It will not only help us to get our products to market much faster, but it also aims to significantly reduce the costs associated with product implementation for the industry as a whole. It means that any system changes or product enhancements will be done once centrally, rather than requiring participants to make multiple changes.

“Over the past three decades, eftpos has been a trusted, secure and accessible payment option for Australian consumers and merchants and we are determined to see that remains the case into the future. This project will help us to retain local choice and competition in the Australia payments market as we move to new technology platforms such as mobile and online.”

The decision to award FIS the eftpos hub contract followed a rigorous tender process and many months of detailed analysis and planning.

Mansfield said eftpos expected the first industry players to be connected to the new eftpos hub in 2014.

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