Pago Eftpos, in pilot since November, will, be in market by mid-March.
Pago is positioning its offering as “a premium level, customisable product offering rates tailored to the business.”
Next Payments spent the second half of 2022 working and negotiating access with major POS system vendors, such as MX51, and Pago is now in the market collecting customers.
Tim Wildash, managing director of Next Payments, told Banking Day: “This is not a cut-price, no-frills pitch. Pago spruiks a 24/7 Australian support team, field technicians that come to you and a real-time dashboard customised to suit the merchant.”
The arrival of Pago Eftpos may prove a landmark in the taut world of payments.
The Australian government, overworked to the bone, is developing a national payments strategy.
Handily, the market may be doing a great deal of the work needed to renovate the increasingly archaic legacy of Australian payments.
Wildash said he believes QR codes will soon be dominant in payments.
This adventure is underway in many niches already in business and as big retailers flip to QR in coming years it will be the mission of the likes of Pago and Next to make it widespread.
Hospitality, retail, health and beauty salon and small business generally are key targets for Pago Eftpos.
Wildash said Next “has 90 per cent of the tech we need to be a neobank”.
“We’ll take the low-hanging fruit first, our regular customers.”
Pago is QR code ready and this is the direction Wildash sees payments going.
“The minute Coles or Woolworths bypass Visa and Mastercard, and go direct to bank, away you go.”
If Wildash’s QR code bet pays off he will be riding the biggest and fastest growing wave in payments ever.
QR codes may well be king of payments and Pago Eftpos plans on being one of its queens.