Nowadays, the rapid development of the Internet has deeply impacted every aspect of people’s lives, such as shopping and payment. Most countries around the world have said goodbye to using cash only to spend time. What are the payment methods? What are the third-party payment platforms in Melbourne?
The main payment methods currently available in Melbourne are credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, cash on delivery and various optional electronic payment methods. Credit cards are the internationally recognised VISA and MasterCard cards, with a similar market share in Australia. Bank transfers and cash-on-delivery are more secure payment methods that many online retailers still use. However, Australia’s leading electronic payment options are BPAY, PayPal, POLi and others. This article is a detailed guide to using various standard electronic payment methods, online payment apps, software and platforms in Australia.
Credit Card
In Melbourne, a credit card is the primary payment method, accounting for about 45%. On the one hand, credit card is safer and more convenient than cash, on the other hand, consumer protection is better, and then you can get rewards such as rebates or mileage points, which is a No Brainer’s choice.
In Australia, most mid- to high-end credit cards have bonus points or cooperative points with airlines such as Qantas, department store alliance Flybuy, Woolworth rewards, etc. However, the membership rewards from American Express are by far the most lucrative. Of course, you must have a current account before applying for a credit card. You can apply for a credit card once you have a bank account and some credit history. Australia has three standard credit cards: Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
Melbourne Credit Card Advantages
Points Rewards
Most credit card rewards are only associated with frequent flyer points, but such an idea is inaccurate. Reward cards earn points that can be redeemed for more than just flight miles. And you can use them for many home appliances, gift cards, technology products, household items, and more.
Insurance and Lounge Passes
Most major card issuers offer extra rewards such as travel insurance, warranties, accident insurance, flight insurance, etc. Plus free lounge passes to lounges worldwide, you can get a lot of rewards instantly by applying now.
Zero Foreign Handling Fee
When you go overseas, take a card with no foreign handling fees, and you can save 2-3% when you shop or shop online. For example, ANZ Bank’s Rewards Travel Adventures credit card, designed for ease of use when travelling overseas, offers 40,000 bonus points, overseas travel and medical insurance, and several other excellent offers. You could also look at the less complicated Platinum MasterCard credit card provided by 28 Degrees or the Lite Card credit card offered by Westpac Bank, which doesn’t require you to pay a processing fee for overseas purchases.
Bank Debit Cards
Debit cards are now a more common form of payment in Australia. Australian bank debit cards, known as Debit Cards, help cardholders spend money in shopping malls so that any charges made by the cardholder will be deducted directly from their account through the bank’s billing system.
Common Banks in Australia
Four central banks are most famous in Australia, and these four banks are also widespread on the streets of Australia:
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Headquartered in Sydney, it is one of the four central banks in Australia. They can provide free student accounts, and many students choose this bank, so they have a lot of branches and ATMs (every 7-11 has their ATMs), and it is very convenient to withdraw money.
ANZBank
Headquartered in Melbourne, it is one of the four largest banks in Australia, one of the oldest and best-known banks in Australia, and it ranks in the top 50 globally.
National Australia Bank
Australia’s largest commercial bank, founded in 1858, incorporated in 1893 and became a limited company in 1984. Headquartered in Melbourne, National Australia Bank is Australia’s leading banking and financial services organisation, offering a wide range of financial industry services with no annual fees.
Westpac Banking Corporation
Australia’s oldest bank, formerly known as the Bank of New South Wales. WBC Bank is in the Asia-Pacific region and is a world financial agent. Its online banking system is very comprehensive. You can directly access its system for business settlements, foreign exchange exchange, domestic and overseas payment, stock trading, etc.
Debit Card Payment Advantages
Overseas card payment of Australian dollar consumption without a commission: Minsheng International VISA debit card Australian dollar card, in the people’s account with the Australian dollar account, when you directly exchange good Australian dollars into this card (recommended), to overseas card payment of Australian dollar consumption, without any commission, if the Australian dollar account of the money run out of money, you RMB account you initially deposited into the RMB, then when you brush Australian dollar consumption, the bank will automatically transfer the RMB account at the exchange rate of the day from you to the RMB account, the bank will automatically transfer the RMB account at the rate of the day. When you spend in Australian dollars, the bank will automatically transfer the money from your RMB account to Australian dollars at the day’s exchange rate for you to pay, also without any handling fee.
Although it is a debit card, because of the VISA function overseas card spending can be done the premise is that you must have money in the card. Of course, the recommended direct deposit of Australian dollars to the card is cost-effective, here than directly bring Australian dollars in cash to Australia to be much more convenient.
Please do not pay for online overseas payment, only the card has money, you take it overseas to POS machine on the card consumption, so everyone in the domestic online booking of overseas hotels or air tickets, do not use, there is no way to use.
Overseas credit card payment of Australian dollar consumption, when your card on the Australian dollar account is Australian dollars, is to swipe the card is not any commission, which is more than many domestic dual-currency credit cards (U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan) to be a lot more cost-effective.
If you have money in the people’s account, this card country can be used as a debit card. Swipe the card shopping. And even you go to the counter to open the online payment function (can only pay the domestic online merchants ah), can be online shopping or transfer.
POLi Payments
POLi Payments Pty Ltd is an online payment company in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to Australian consumers, merchants and consumers from New Zealand often use Polipayment as an online payment system. POLi is the most popular payment gateway for Australian users and credit cards. It is the leading online bank payment system in Australia and New Zealand, allowing consumers to make payments as long as they have a bank account with a bank that is connected to POLi.
It can support significant banks in Australia, such as Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, BankWest, Bendigo Bank, Citibank, CUA, ING Direct and so on. Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac are collectively known as the four central banks in Australia.
Advantages of POLi Payment
- Covered Countries: Australia and New Zealand
- Payment Type: Online Internet Banking Transfer
- Supported Currencies: AUD, NZD, USD
- Arrival time: Non-real-time arrival
- Whether to support the refusal of payment: No
- Usage Scenario: Online shopping, bill payment, bank transfer (enter your account password to make payment.)
- Transfer Methods: Almost all New Zealand and Australian bank transfers are supported.
POLi Payment Features
Real-time transaction: This is the same as PayPal or a credit card.
No chargeback, can not refuse to pay: (of course, merchants can choose whether to open the buyer protection; if not opened, will not refuse to pay). PayPal or credit card to protect the buyer can be refused to pay, and the buyer can be refused to pay within 180 days.
Cheap transaction fees: PayPal’s rate for Chinese merchants is 4.3% + 0.3$, and a withdrawal fee of 35$ per transaction.
No margin or revolving margin: PayPal or credit cards usually have a specific transaction margin and a 10% revolving margin, which puts much pressure on the merchant’s cash flow.
POLi Payment Process
- Using POLi payment needs five simple steps:
- Select “POLi” as the payment method on the payment page of the website;
- Choose your preferred bank;
- Log in with your online banking details and confirm your payment;
- POLi confirms the transfer is complete;
- Return to the website; the transaction is complete!
PayPal
PayPal in Melbourne is also one of the most common payment methods, is the world’s most extensive payment tool! Its headquarters is in San Jose, California. The United States of America’s Internet Service Provider, eBay’s company, is committed to allowing individuals or businesses through e-mail, safe, simple and convenient to achieve the online payment and receipt of funds.
PayPal payment features
Online shopping: almost all Melbourne shopping sites support PayPal;
Family and friends transfer: need between Australia Paypal personal account, transfer seconds to Paypal account, through non-credit card transfers (account balance, Bank Account), without fees;
Receive payment: as long as the payer supports PayPal payment, such as selling some second-hand things on eBay or doing some small business, you can receive payment through PayPal;
International transfers: Support for PayPal transfers in different countries, transfer seconds to Paypal account, but there will be a higher fee.
PayPal User Guide
The process of using PayPal is straightforward, to do domestic words, PayPal is a simple version of Alipay, to achieve some of the functions of Alipay in the payment, the general process is divided into three: PayPal registration, binding credit card/savings card, consumer payments.
PayPal Registration
The PayPal registration has two forms: personal account and business account.
The personal account functions mainly focus on three modules: payment, collection and withdrawal.
Corporate accounts have more functions and can be bound to corporate websites, malls, APPs and other corresponding business scenarios.
Bind Credit Card/Savings Card
Here, the user’s income and expenditure tools are bound, of which credit cards can only be bound as a payment tool, and savings cards can be used as a payment and collection method. The specific process is as follows:
Log in to your account on the PayPal website, click “User Information” – “User Information and Settings” to enter the user centre to add a bank card.
Then click “Financial Information” to enter the financial management interface, click “Associate a new card”, and fill in the credit/debit card information according to the form.
PayPal Fees
When you use PayPal to pay, the money will be deducted directly from your card, and PayPal will not charge any handling fee. However, if you receive payment through PayPal, you need to pay a certain percentage of the handling fee to PayPal.
Bpay
Bpay is the most common payment method in Australia. You can quickly pay as long as you have an Australian bank card. BPAY is a bill payment system jointly developed by major financial institutions in Australia. It is supported by more than 45,000 Australian organisations to pay bills, and popular bill types such as water, electricity and coal network bills, phone bills, penalty tickets, tuition fees, council fees, FIRB application fees, etc., can be paid through BPAY.
Bpay Payment Process
Log in to your online banking and select the option of BPAY or Bill Payment.
Find the BPAY logo on your electronic or paper bill.
Enter the payment details: BPAY Merchant Code (Biller Code); Customer Reference Number (CRN); Bill Amount and click Pay.
Can I pay in RMB if I don’t have an Australian bank account?
Of course, you can! Visit www.chinapayments.com with your BPAY information. You can use your e-wallet (e.g., Alipay) to pay your local BPAY bill in Australia! Tailor-made for overseas Chinese, you can pay your bills quickly whether you are in Australia or not!
Payment Steps:
Login to www.chinapayments.com from your computer and enter the BPAY information of your bill (Billercode, refno. and bill amount).
Select Alipay
Open the Alipay app on your mobile phone and swipe to pay.
Please wait for a moment, the system will generate the payment voucher, at the same time, the voucher will be available on the Alipay mobile page, you can take a screenshot, download the voucher or send it to your email.
Advantages of Bpay
Real-time exchange rate: 1 AUD = 4.9927 RMB.
Fast, convenient and safe; no need to run to the bank
Does not take up the annual foreign exchange quota of 50,000 US dollars by the Foreign Exchange Bureau
Integrate into local life payment
There are no geographical restrictions, and you can go anywhere in the world to pay Australian BPAY bills
eWAY
eWAY is an Australian payment platform with branches in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. The development is more mature, with more than 190 banks and financial institutions providing a more internationalised and regular payment channel. Today, eWay accounts for 20 per cent of the online payments market in Australia and conducts transactions in five countries—eWay processes billions of dollars in payments for thousands of businesses annually. The company provides a merchant-focused, secure and reliable payment gateway.
eWAY Basic Knowledge
Registered Country: Australia
Applicable area: Local
Payment method: APP, QR code
Deposit Fee: Free
Withdrawal fee: unknown
eWAY Payment Process
Find the BPAY billing code and CRN on your bill.
Log in to your online or mobile banking.
Select BPAY (your preferred account), enter BPAY details, amount and payment date.
Osko
Osko, a product launched by NPP Australia Ltd, is a real-time payment collection platform created with 13 Australian financial institutions. Bpay heads its technical team. Osko utilises Pay ID to make payments. When the bank notifies you that you can register, you can apply for your unique PayID in mobile or online banking and enter the ID when making payments online. Officially started operations in early March 2018 and is currently in the initial stages of development. By Bpay backup, and the NPP and 13 well-known financial institutions jointly launched the product, there is a high degree of attention.
Osko Payment Advantages
Fulfilment of faster payment methods.
Osko through BPAY already has over 70 banks and financial institutions working in Australia to bring you faster payments.
The Osko is already part of online banking. You only need PayID or BSB and an account number to process it.
Osko Payments Process
Osko Payments uses PayID, a simpler alternative to a BSB and account number. Payments can be made using someone’s registered mobile number, email address or ABN.
How is Osko by BPAY different from BPAY?
BPAY’s Osko works seamlessly with BPAY and BPAY View, but each service differs.BPAY is excellent for paying bills, while BPAY View is great for sending bills directly to your online bank, and Osko specialises in sending money quickly from person to person.
Klarna
Klarna is a Swedish payment solutions provider for e-commerce platforms, founded in Stockholm, Sweden 2005. Currently in Sweden, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to provide services. The Klarna mainly focuses on payment business, providing online settlement, in-store settlement, and direct social media purchases in three ways. The concept is to provide customers with a simple and smooth shopping experience, payment methods, and an online one-stop shopping and consumption platform called Klarna APP. As a payment service provider, The Klarna provides merchants with high-conversion rate, can be quickly integrated, and is popular among European and American consumers. Klarna
Klarna Payment Methods
Pay Later
Consumers in the website after the order, mailbox or mobile phone will receive Klarna Invoice bill, consumers can choose to pay any time within 14 days after the merchant delivery, without the need for immediate payment.
Financing – Payment in Instalments
Provide your customers with a modern alternative option to defer payments via 4 (US) or 3 (UK/Italy/Spain) interest-free instalments.
Pay Now – Direct Payment
Direct Bank Transfer (Sofort)
A simple, secure online bank transfer lets customers pay for their orders instantly. Designed with security in mind, It has everything under control. They use local authentication methods that customers trust (PIN/TAN in Germany, BankID in Sweden, etc.).
Direct Debit
Direct Debit authorisation allows your customers to enable one-click purchases through Klarna. This payment method can easily be used for subscription services and pay-as-you-go models. And Klarna makes it effortless for you to provide simple and accessible services.
Google Pay
It is Google’s mobile payment service, stored in the Google account. Payment information will be integrated into various Google products and services and more convenient transactions, contactless payments, and online shopping.
Google Wallet is Google’s earlier development of payment tools. It can be used for physical and online consumer payments and transactions between individuals and later launched the globally accepted Android Pay, which is adjusted to the receipt of payments between individuals, the transfer function, and linked to the U.S. bank account. The U.S. market is the main one. Android Pay was renamed and rebranded as Google Pay, which will have all the features of Android Pay. In contrast, Google Wallet features (such as requesting and sending funds) will appear in Google Pay Send, a separate application.
Google Pay Payment Features
Fast in-store payment, more secure and reliable
There is no need to swipe your card from now on. When you pay in a shop with Google Pay, the other party will not know your payment card details, so your data is safe and secure. Pay directly with the device without taking out your wallet.
Check out all Google products/services quickly.
With Google Pay, you can use your credit card stored in your Google Account to pay for different Google products (such as Google Play and Chrome) very quickly. There are no additional fees.
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is Apple’s mobile payment and e-cash service that is integrated into the Apple Wallet app and can only be used with Apple iPhones (iPhone 6 or newer), Apple Watches (iPhone 5 or newer paired with Apple Pay) and iPads (iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad Pro or newer), iPad (iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad Pro or newer) mobile devices. The main competitors are Google Pay and Samsung Pay, each with a customer base of iOS and Android users.
It is directly compatible with contactless terminals that support VISA’s payWave, MasterCard’s Contactless, China UnionPay’s FlashPay, JCB’s J/Speedy, and American Express’s ExpressPay. Your boarding pass, various tickets, and debit, credit, transport and shop cards can be stored in the Wallet app.
Apple Pay Payment Features
- In-store payments are manageable.
Paying with Apple Pay on your iPhone or Apple Watch eliminates many tedious payment steps. So you don’t have to spend more time at the register to complete your purchase. - Online payments are manageable.
With your iPhone or iPad, you can use Apple Pay to make purchases in apps and on specific web pages. Whether you need to pay your bus fare, order takeout pizza, or buy a new pair of trainers, it’s fast, easy, and secure. - Pay with peace of mind.
Apple Pay uses a device-specific number and a unique transaction code when you pay. So, your card number is never stored on your device or our servers, and Apple never shares your card number with merchants when making a payment.
FAQ
In Melbourne, the most commonly accepted payment methods include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and debit cards. Mobile payment apps like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay are also popular among locals and tourists.
Yes, international credit cards are widely accepted in Melbourne. However, checking with your card issuer about international transaction fees is wise.
The use of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay is rapidly growing in acceptance across Melbourne. These apps are celebrated for their convenience and security.
Absolutely. Contactless payments through cards and smartphones have become the norm in Melbourne, offering a fast and secure way to transact.
Setting up a mobile payment app involves linking your credit or debit card to the app on your smartphone. It’s recommended to do this before you travel, to ensure seamless transactions upon arrival.
