In a newsletter sent earlier this week to its members, eftpos, the home-grown payments processor, gave an early warning of the successful use of its Hub. eftpos explained that the Hub is "mission critical infrastructure" that links the Australian payments industry through a central point, replacing a network of complex bilateral links between financial institutions and merchants that have evolved since eftpos was first launched in Australia more than 30 years ago."The Hub is a massive milestone for us, enabling contactless POS transactions, ATM and digital," spokesman for eftpos was keen to re-iterate.Since going live with its first two "direct connectors" on 9 September 2014, the Hub now has 11 direct connectors processing transactions, comprising the four major banks, two major supermarkets, Cuscal (with two connections: supporting Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and ING), First Data (also supporting Bank of Queensland, Citi, ASL and Indue), Suncorp and Tyro.The eftpos Hub infrastructure is helping to bring new payments products to market much faster and more efficiently than could be achieved with the previous complex series of bilateral links.Services currently in development by eftpos, and which are intended for release in 2017 include: Settlement service: this will calculate and direct the net-settlement position on behalf of members - a single point of change that removes the cost burden, both operationally and ongoing as the market grows. eftpos disputes and chargebacks: a simplified online workflow designed to manage and resolve disputes and chargebacks - quickly and accurately. This service is integrated with the eftpos settlement service to further drive efficiencies and Member value.