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.
