Australian Payments Plus, the entity bringing together Australia’s three domestic payment providers, BPAY Group, eftpos and NPP Australia, has worked alongside tech giant Google to roll out eftpos functionality and Least Cost Routing (LCR) on transactions made via the mobile Google Wallet.
Through the new move, merchants will be able to choose to have more payments routed via the lower-cost eftpos network. ANZ and Suncorp Bank have become the first two issuers to go live with eftpos multi-network debit cards in the Google Wallet, with other issuers to follow over the course of 2025. Multi-network debit cards allow payments to be processed either through the eftpos network or one of the international debit networks, such as Mastercard or Visa.
“Mobile wallet payments now account for 40 per cent of all in-person transactions, and that share is expected to continue growing in coming years,” said Adrian Lovney, chief payments officer at Australian Payments Plus. “Enabling merchants to route those wallet payments to the eftpos network brings further competition in the mobile wallet space, which we know lowers the cost of payment acceptance.”
Previously, multi-network debit cards loaded into Google Wallet defaulted to international card networks, but now the lower cost domestic eftpos network will be available as a routing choice. According to a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) report from April 2024, the cost of accepting debit card transactions is nearly 20 per cent lower for merchants that have LCR turned on compared with those with LCR turned off.
“We’re proud to work with the eftpos network, banks including ANZ and Suncorp Bank, and the RBA to bring least cost routing to Google Wallet in Australia,” added Naomi Gaskell, manager of payments at Google Australia. “It will give Australians greater choice and control over their payments and help Australian retailers to reduce payments costs, in line with Google’s broader efforts to support Australian businesses.”
Reducing the cost of payments
Prior to its partnership with Google, Australian Payments Plus began the rollout of LCR across selected mobile wallets in 2024. Now, ANZ and Suncorp Bank Visa debit cards directly added into the Google Wallet will have LCR enabled, with onboarding for remaining issuers to continue this year.
The continued rollout of LCR to mobile wallets is a key part of Australian Payments Plus’s ongoing efforts to lower the cost of payments. As part of this commitment, Australian Payments Plus also lowered eftpos interchange rates for eligible small business merchants in December 2024, and plans to further reduce issuer scheme fees by 22 per cent and acquirer scheme fees by five per cent in May.
Lovney concluded: “Australian Payments Plus is committed to lowering the wholesale cost of payments across our payment schemes. It’s all part of having a strong and competitive payment system that serves the needs of businesses and consumers in Australia.”
