Another New Payments Platform start date looms

The New Payments Platform could be up and running in time for Valentine's Day - if the reasoning for the start date, generated by an often-reliable rumour mill, is to be believed.

Over the past day or so, contributors to the Whirlpool chatroom for technophiles have been turning their collective attention to the likely start date of the New Payments Platform.

According to the latest postings, which appear to originate from banking insiders, the most likely start date is 13 February.

One Whirlpool enthusiast noted that Sally Tindall from Rate City told Channel Nine's "Today Extra" on 6 February that there would be a "soft launch" of the NPP system "in a few days' time".

The same contributor noted that "ANZ, NAB and a number of smaller banks and credit unions" had updated their terms and conditions to allow for debits and credits made via the NPP. For instance, the new ANZ terms and conditions is in PDF, dated 6 February 2018.

At yesterday's CBA half-year results briefing, however, Group CEO Ian Narev stuck firmly to the official line - CBA is prepared to jump onto the NPP, but no start date is in sight.

"I just want to be clear: we are ready to go [with the NPP]. Now, there are various different discussions about what is the right level of readiness for the industry overall to make the 'go' decision - for banks to deliver the desired level of customer experience safely," he said.

There are no business reasons for BankWest to miss out on being included in the first wave of NPP players. "I'd say, in general, the whole nature at the moment of what exactly what the launch is going to be, how it's going to be, who's in and who's not going to be in it, is still the subject of very contemporary discussions," Narev said.

"From our perspective, as soon as any part of the Commonwealth Bank is ready to be involved - safely and appropriately, with a good customer experience - there will be no good business reasons not to do it. We are very happy to open ourselves up."