Why speed is the least interesting feature of the NPP

When most people think of the recently-launched New Payments Platform (NPP) they think about speed. Indeed, having payments appear in a user’s bank account in a matter of seconds instead of having to wait overnight or even longer is a very useful feature.

The NPP launched in February 2018 with BPAY’s Osko service which offers 24/7 transactions between financial institutions. In many cases, transfers can be completed under a minute. Compare this to typical business transactions where payments are sent in batches five times a day but only settled between banks once a day and only on business days.

Yet according to Adrian Lovney, CEO of NPPA, the NPP delivers much more than that and “speed is probably the least interesting thing of the proposal for many customers.”