Westpac has announced it has now switched on the real-time payments initiation service for billers, PayTo, for its institutional and commercial payees.

The capability will be integrated into Westpac’s digital receivables platform QuickStream, offering Westpac’s larger corporate customers “a consolidated view of payments” within a familiar platform environment, said Jeff Byrne, Westpac’s managing director, global transaction services.

Westpac launched its first PayTo capability, for consumer payers, back in April 2023. However, the enablement of the billers’ functionality today ensures the payments initiation capability can operate as intended.

While currently limited to corporate clients, Westpac expects PayTo to be rolled out to other business customers by the end of this year.

PayTo, which was developed by Australian Payments Plus (AP+) and operates via Australia’s real-time payments rail the New Payments Platform (NPP), provides what is effectively a next-generation alternative to traditional direct debt payments.

The service enables merchants and payments-receiving businesses to initiate real-time payments from their customers’ bank accounts.

From the consumer end, PayTo enables customers to establish payments agreements (whether one-off, recurring, or ad hoc) with trusted businesses and billers. Through their banking portal of choice, customers can then view, authorise, cancel or pause their digital payment agreements in online banking or mobile banking.

PayTo promises to improve the transparency and validity of consumer-to-business payments, enabling real-time account validation, funds verification, and notifications at various stages of payment. Payment agreements, for instance, can be set up by customers using their PayID as an alternative to providing their BSB and account number.

Businesses will also be able to view when a payment agreement is paused, changed, or cancelled.

As well, businesses can benefit from real-time funds settlement and the removal of paper from the agreement-setting process.

Byrne said the new capability enables Westpac corporate customers “to manage cash flow in near real-time, as they will receive payments instantly” rather than waiting through the traditional bulk settlements system which may take days.

“With the sun setting on traditional direct debits that require a great deal of administration for billers, this is great news for our customers.”

PayTo, he added, “is the next major watershed in the payments industry as we move to a real-time, digital-first economy”.