You can transfer money to someone simply by using their email address or phone number. Photo: Shutterstock
As Australians succumb to scams at breakneck pace, the banking industry has redoubled its efforts to promote the New Payment Platform (NPP)’s PayID service as a way of stemming losses by customers that handed over more than $2 billion to scammers last year.
PayID, which links bank account details to a mobile number or email address that can be used to direct real-time NPP payments, has been positioned as an easier-to-use alternative to conventional BSB and account number methods – which can see funds sent to the wrong account if even one number is entered incorrectly.
More than 11 million PayIDs have been registered since its February 2018 debut – with the service now carrying more than 17 per cent of all real-time payments – but a new Australian Banking Association (ABA) campaign is aiming to increase those numbers even further.
The campaign, called ‘Australian Banks: Working To Protect You’, is designed to “accelerate the growth of these payments,” ABA CEO Anna Bligh said in helping launch the awareness initiative.
PayID “helps to stop scams,” she added, “because unlike a traditional payment, the payer can see a confirmation screen, which includes the intended PayID name, before they confirm the payment.”
The additional verification will be particularly useful for businesses targeted in payment redirection scams, in which…
