Fierce battles are set to erupt between start-up payments providers and the major banks over pricing and access to the nation's real time payments platform that was officially launched to the public on Tuesday.The New Payments Platform is promising to sharply reduce the time required for money to be moved between bank accounts.Commonwealth Bank and a string of credit unions are already offering customer access to the real time settlement platform by leveraging BPAY's Osko service, with other banks expected to roll out similar offerings over the next six months.While the prospective benefits of real time payments for consumers and the wider economy should not be understated, the NPP is stirring controversy because aspiring service providers doubt whether its ownership structure is capable of exposing the major banks to genuine competition in the payments market.An immediate worry for the start-ups is pricing.Many aspiring overlay providers who want to compete against the bank-owned Osko service have begun to negotiate with the NPP's shareholders - major and regional banks - for the right to link their products to the platform.To get access to the platform the new players have to pay fees to the banks, thereby creating a significant conflict of interest within the NPP business model.The arrangement has angered a string of potential overlay providers, who say the NPP's bank owners have an incentive to shield Osko from competition."When we contacted the NPP about how we might be able to participate, they told us that we should first talk with our bank," said Damien Vasta, the CEO of Brisbane-based payments specialist, Sniip Australia. "The business concept underpinning the NPP is flawed because the new overlay service providers will have their access fees set by the same players who they will be competing against."Vasta is adamant that decisions about pricing and access for independent overlay services should be made by a stand-alone body with no business connections with the banks."Clearly, that's not the case under the current arrangements," he said.Banking Day understands that shareholder banks are likely to pay the NPP around eight cents to 10 cents on transactions going through the platform in its first year.However, Banking Day has been told by one prospective overlay provider that a major bank is only willing to give his business access to the NPP if he pays a fee of 40 cents per transaction.While that pricing can only be described as preposterous, it demonstrates that the major banks are in a position to at least obfuscate the entry of potential rivals to their Osko business.FinTech Australia, the industry association that advocates for new financial services providers, says it is working with its members to develop a policy position to take to the NPP and government."We want to make sure this A$1 billion piece of payments infrastructure (the NPP) drives broad-based innovation and customer benefits, rather than only benefitting incumbents," said a spokesperson for the industry association."Issues our members have raised to date include the lack of clarity on pricing, and different onboarding points, and