Over 60,000 businesses in Australia use BPAY for bills

BPAY is a great Australian invention that has largely standarised billing options for several tens of thousands of businesses and provided a 'learn once, use often' consistency for years for millions of Australians.

This great platform for Australian consumers provides trust, security and surety for all sorts of bills including electricity bills, gas bills, council rates, car insurance bills and more.

Customers of businesses that offer BPAY have plenty of options for how they pay their bills too, including online options, via Auspost and apps like HelpPay.

Where to find BPAY details on bills

On each bill, like your electricity bill, you will find BPAY payment details that make it easy for you to pay your bills, or use services like HelpPay to get or give help on bills, you can use your BPAY details.

BPAY bill sections include two components, the BPAY Biller Code and 'REF' or BPAY Customer Reference Number.

Both the Biller Code and Customer Reference Number is needed when paying a bill to ensure money paid towards a bill pays that bill.

What's a BPAY biller code?

A BPAY Biller Code is the identifying number for a business, or a part of a business. It does not identify the account within that company (more on this below).

Some companies may use more than one BPAY biller code as they introduce different offerings across their business. For example: energy companies that only offer electricity plans and gas plans probably only need one Biller code. But some energy companies today are expanding their offerings to customers with Solar and battery products and services as well as mobile phone plans and NBN internet plans.

Business will have some customers that only use one service, and they will also have some customers that use more than one service. In both instances it is necessary to have more than one BPAY biller code to know when a customer makes a payment towards that company which part of the company it is for. After all if a customer owes $100 on their electricity bill and $100 on their mobile bill, and the customer pays $100 - the company needs to know if the $100 being paid towards electricity or the mobile bill.

By having separate biller codes the customer can use the right code for the right service and the company knows which bill has been paid.

But a Biller code alone isn't enough to make sure money goes where it should, and that's why a Customer Reference Number is needed.

What's a BPAY customer reference number?

A BPAY customer reference number is the number used along with the BPAY Biller number that not only identifies the company, or the overall service within that company that's being used, but also the specific customer account being paid.

A Customer Reference Number is unique to each customer account and is usually assigned to that customer account for as long as that customer is with the company. It is possible, but unusual, for BPAY Customer Reference Number's to be unique per bill.

Why does HelpPay uses BPAY details to transfer money to companies instead of letting people use their personal bank accounts?

HelpPay can be used by anyone in Australia for getting or giving help towards BPAY bills. We use BPAY for three reasons:

We have surveyed hundreds of Australians since 2020 and in every instance the majority of people say they give more when they know it will definitely reach the intended destination. For us, BPAY was the best possible way to ensure that when someone needs help with a bill they're providing at least some evidence of that. We know the overwhelming majority of people are good. We make no assumptions about what people who are asking for money to help with bills do with it if it is transferred directly to their personal bank account but for us, BPAY was just a natural way to ensure that money given towards a bill will go directly to that bill. In fact, our research has found the #1 reason people who have the means to help, but don't help is trusting the money given will go where it is meant to.
To help when people may not be able to get to their bank account. There are many reasons why people are unable to access their bank account and we wanted to ensure we were being as inclusive and considerate of different personal circumstances as possible.
For simplicity and speed. We know that when someone is handling many new and different things when they're in crisis, or they're focused on getting back on their feet it's easy for things to slip - and one of those things is the details of receiving money, transferring money, remembering what to pay and when etc. We also know it is difficult to keep a track of who has paid what and when so you can thank them later. That's why we do two things: the first is transfer money received from people towards a bill to that biller, via the BPAY details, and the second is to keep a list of everyone that's helped, when and how for how much, per bill, in the app so the person asking for help can come back later once the moment of crisis has passed and thank the peopele that helped.

Becoming a BPAY biller

BPAY is one of Australia’s most widely used bill payment services

BPAY is one of Australia’s most trusted payment methods and is Australia’s most widely used bill payment service. Find out how BPAY works and how to get BPAY for your business or charity below.

BPAY was launched on November 18, 1997 and was the first single bill payment service adopted across the banking sector, anywhere in the world.

Soon after launch BPAY began offering online bill payment solutions through online banking websites and applications. More than 30 million bills are paid each month via BPAY in Australia.

What is BPAY?

The name “BPAY” is the combination of two words ‘bill’ and payment’ and is a service that allows you pay your bills through your online banking. It is Australia’s most widely used bill payment service with more than 60,000 businesses right around Australia including most major companies in energy, banking, telecommunications, water, as well as local councils, emergency services and more. This means that BPAY can be used to pay bills for mobile phones, electricity, gas, hot water, council rates, internet, credit cards, and a range of insurance services including health, pet, life, income and more.

Depending on the setup of the company using BPAY, customers may be offered the ability to pay bills using credit cards, GooglePay and ApplePay, savings accounts, and debit cards.

BPAY can be setup and used by any approved Business or Charity applicant, provided certain criteria are met.

How do I get BPAY for my business or charity?

BPAY is available for all businesses in Australia that have and ACN, ABN or ARBN and a banking relationship with an Australian financial institution, such as a bank or credit union. BPAY is also available for registered charities.

By registering to process and accept payments with BPAY the business or charity becomes a ‘biller’ and must nominate a bank account where funds will be deposited as well as an account from which BPAY fees will be charged.

To learn more about becoming a BPAY biller, visit BPAY's Become a BPAY Biller.

How BPAY works when making a payment

To use BPAY when making a payment:

Look for the BPAY logo on your paper or ebill.
Locate the ‘Biller Code’ – this is the number used to identify the company, and
Locate the ‘Customer Reference Number’ (CRN) – this will generally be right next to or underneath the Biller Code and will generally be a 12 – 15 digit number.
The CRN is used as a digital ‘key’ to send the money not just to the company, but directly to the correct account within the company so the company knows the bill they issued has received a payment.
Open the app, website link and insert the Biller Code and Customer Reference Number in the appropriate fields. Enter the other relevant information required, such as the bill due date and the amount to be paid.

How long does BPAY take to process a payment?

How long BPAY payments take to process depend on two factors, when the transaction(s) are made, and which financial institutions are involved.

BPAY payments are generally debited and processed within the same day if made before 6pm (Melbourne/Sydney time) or on the next business day if the transaction is made after 6pm.

What are some of the benefits of BPAY?

There are many reasons companies choose to take up BPAY. One key reason businesses take BPAY up is simply because BPAY is so well known and accepted by customers. Because more than 60,000 businesses in Australia have taken up BPAY the process is now so straightforward many people find BPAY to be one of the easiest payment methods to setup when adding it to their existing business or starting a new business.

BPAY’s widely known and easy reconciliation process makes processing payments easy for businesses too.

In addition to BPAY’s integration functionality itself BPAY is now integrated into dozens of mobile and web apps in Australia including banking apps, money transfer apps and, of course, HelpPay.

BPAY billers already able to receive payments with HelpPay

HelpPay offers BPAY Billers the ability to integrate with it for a richer and better experience for customers. Unlike many other applications however, thanks to HelpPay’s integration with BPAY APIs, customers that need help with BPAY bills can automatically use HelpPay, safe in the knowledge that all payments made towards billers only goes directly to the BPAY Biller and Customer Reference Numbers provided by the user.

HelpPay also verifies Biller and Customer Reference Numbers are valid at the time of entry by a HelpPay customer, so there is very little chance (if any) of accidentally giving money towards someone’s bill and it going to the wrong destination.

To find out how HelpPay can work with your business to provide a feature-rich experience for your customers to safely, securely, and discreetly get the help they need, when they decide they need it, talk to us today.

To take up BPAY, please follow this link to BPAY’s website and follow the provided instructions or contact your Australian financial institution today.