Fintech Paypa Plane is bringing one of the biggest innovations to payments to life in a deal with Cuscal

Queensland fintech Paypa Plane has signed a deal to bring one of the key innovations of the New Payments Platform Australia (NPPA) – pre-authorised real-time payments – to banking next year

Paypa Plane’s agreement is with payments platform Cuscal to launch PayTo in mid-2022. It’s one of the first examples of a bank and a fintech collaborating to make the PayTo ecosystem a reality.

Previously known as the Mandated Payment Service, PayTo is a digital solution for businesses to initiate real-time payments from customer bank accounts. It offers real-time account validation and fund verification, and allows the business to see when a payment agreement is paused, changed, or cancelled.

For customers it offers more control over their bank account and managing their payments agreements.

PayTo is being developed by the NPPA and participating financial institutions, including Cuscal. It will offer a real-time alternative to Direct Debits and is set to modernise the way bank accounts are used for payments. It will underpin future innovation in the sector, creating new payment possibilities online at ecommerce check-outs, bill payments and even at checkouts in-store

Paypa Plane CEO Simone Joyce said the agreement means banks and Fintechs can continue to rely on Cuscal to provide reliable payment infrastructure and plug it into her fintech’s industry-leading software to manage PayTo mandates and initiate payments.

“We have been preparing for PayTo for a long time and we look forward to the positive effects it will have on the payments landscape. We are excited to be working with Cuscal to bring PayTo to life for our bank and fintech clients,” she said.

“Even though banks are working to get the consumer experience ready, it’s important not to forget the business experience. Allowing businesses to create mandates and send payment instructions is a big opportunity for banks to provide services to their business customers.”

The agreement between Cuscal and Paypa Plane is a roadmap for how banks and fintechs align to develop services to benefit all stakeholders, including businesses and end consumers.

Cuscal head of product Nathan Churchward said “Cuscal has a strong history of providing innovative products and services to our clients both directly and through their service providers. Our connection with Paypa Plane means that we can continue to do that as PayTo goes live.”

The race to prepare for PayTo plays out against an interesting backdrop in the payments landscape.

As well as the Senate Enquiry into Digital Wallets (such as the Apple Wallet) which over the past few weeks has heard evidence from many industry stakeholders including the Commonwealth Bank, the RBA and FinTech Australia, the Treasury’s Payment Regulation Report was released by Treasurer Frydenberg this week.

You can read more on what Joyce and other fintech leaders had to say about that here.