A new era for digital payments in Australia

3rd October 2025

Australian consumers have significantly changed the way they pay for goods and services in recent years, influenced by the advent of COVID-19.

Many consumers now avoid inserting a chip into an EFTPOS terminal, selecting an account, and entering their PIN. This process uses the Reserve Bank of Australia's NPP to complete the transaction and incurs a nominal fee.

Tap-and-go payments on credit cards result in higher charges for merchants as they are processed through international card schemes. Due to the increasing preference for touch-free transactions, consumers are tapping debit cards, leading to similar processing fees through the same network.

This shift has significantly altered the payments landscape of Australia's debit card transactions and EFTPOS' market share fell from 80% to 30% over the past decade due to the ‘convenience’ of Tap n Go payments with cards, smartphones, and other digital devices, like watches, rings, and key fobs.

While Tap n Go appears to be a practical method for managing contactless payments, it has revealed some clear disadvantages

‘Tap N Go’ a high price to pay for convenience.

The fees associated with a Tap n Go transaction typically range from 1.1% to 2% of the purchase price, while EFTPOS payments incur a comparatively lower charge, approximately 0.5%.

Multinational companies, Mastercard and VISA, currently hold 70 percent of the market share for debit transactions in Australia.

Small businesses and merchants, unable to sustain the rising costs, have modified their pricing structures by imposing surcharges and raising prices across their stores. Consequently, Australian consumers are left paying roughly $4 billion annually in surcharge fees for 'Tap n Go' debit card services.

Furthermore, the revenue generated from Australia’s $40 billion in debit transactions, each month goes directly to the American conglomerates.

Disruptions cause headaches for Australian merchants.

For over four decades, Australians have had no alternative to Tap n Pay or cash transactions, with businesses bearing the associated costs.

In the current outdated payments landscape, merchants have a heavy reliance on payment terminals. The requirements of lock-in contracts, monthly device rentals, maintenance, and necessary infrastructure (landline or Wi-Fi with SIM card) to connect these devices are costly.

When factoring in transaction processing fees and the increasing preference for Tap n Go, it becomes apparent how untenable this system has become for many small business operators.

The Single Point of Failure for every business entity

The one thing that ALL businesses have in common, regardless of their size, product, or service offerings, is their inability to trade when the EFTPOS system goes down. Merchants are left with no option but to shut shop and wait… sometimes for hours, occasionally for days! This scenario also results in consumer inconvenience and dissatisfaction, due to their inability to purchase essential items.

Unfortunately, this scenario is frequently encountered by millions of small businesses and consumers, not only during natural disasters, power outages, or connectivity disruptions but also when phone lines crash or there is no available Wi-Fi signal.

Operators are compelled to cease trading, often for extended periods, resulting in significant losses, particularly for perishable industries, and increasing frustration among business owners, thereby intensifying their financial challenges.

Only a FinTech can pave the way…

Australia’s legacy banking systems lack the capability to integrate with the latest technology and continual security updates required by the heavily regulated NPP.

In the highly regulated Banking and Finance Industry, Fintech companies have the distinct advantage of leveraging advanced technology to create innovative and adaptable products for the sector, benefiting business and consumers.

Ziksu is the first FinTech in Australia to use the NPP’s QR code Payment Technology. By combining this with PayTo technology, which pulls payments directly from users' linked bank accounts, and PayID technology, which facilitates instant settlements, they have developed a mobile-only platform accessible through an app on the user’s smartphone. Following successful identity verification, users can link their bank accounts, providing a real-time view of their finances and access to their money anytime, anywhere, 24/7, and it’s all backed by world class secure, encrypted technology.

ZiksuPay supports both business and personal users within the same app. Small business owners can link their business bank accounts, create a personal account for their own bank accounts, and seamlessly toggle between the two profiles.

Features are abundant for Business users, specifically designed to reduce operating costs and enhance cashflow. They offer constant availability with no outages or downtime, real-time visual charts, and ondemand reporting, thereby facilitating seamless trade at any time and from any location.

Personal users also enjoy a comprehensive range of features, including sophisticated budgeting tools such as split billing, categorized spending, and visual reports. One of the standout features is the ability to request money from other users, helping to avoid uncomfortable reminders for loan repayments. The app tracks these requests and prompts with regular reminders until the payment is completed.

Ultimately benefitting all Australians, ZiksuPay in combination with the NPP is releasing the chains of the multinational card schemes like Mastercard and VISA, ensuring transactions are routed domestically and profits remain local.

ZiksuPay, in conjunction with the NPP, seeks to diminish reliance on international card schemes such as VISA and Mastercard by routing transactions domestically and retaining profits within the country.