
As a CxO, Billing/Payments Manager or Business Owner operating in the Australian market, reviewing and modernising your payment systems in 2025 is not just about embracing new technology; it’s about driving efficiency, keeping on top of evolving risks, and delivering enhanced exceptional customer experiences.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade existing systems, explore the latest in new payments products and benefits, or considering a new payment solution provider, here are 30 initial questions to help you quickly assess offerings in terms of features, costs, and risk optimisation.
Feature Optimisation: Delivering Value and Innovation
What payment methods do you support, and are they future-ready? Ask about support for traditional methods (credit cards, BPAY, direct debit) as well as emerging options like PayID, PayTo, and digital wallets. Ensure their platform evolves with changing consumer preferences in Australia.
How does your platform handle instant payments? Real-time payments are a necessity. Evaluate their capability to process payments instantly and ensure compatibility with Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP).
Can your system integrate seamlessly with our ERP, CRM, and accounting tools? Integration reduces manual work and errors. Confirm support for APIs or pre-built integrations with popular enterprise software used in Australian businesses.
What advanced fraud detection and prevention features are included? Look for tools like AI-powered transaction monitoring, device fingerprinting, and real-time fraud alerts to protect your business and customers.
Do you support omnichannel payment experiences? Ensure their platform allows customers to transact across in-store, online, and mobile channels seamlessly.
What reporting and analytics tools are available? Robust analytics help you track performance, spot trends, and optimise payment processes. Ask about dashboards, custom reporting, and real-time data access.
How scalable is your platform to handle seasonal or sudden spikes in volume? Ensure their infrastructure supports scalability to accommodate business growth and peak periods, such as end-of-financial-year sales or holiday seasons in Australia.
What value-added services do you offer? From automated reconciliation to loyalty programs, value-added services can help enhance efficiency and customer engagement.
How do you support cross-border transactions? If you operate internationally, ensure the payment provider supports multi-currency processing and compliance with global and Australian regulations.
What steps do you take to enhance the customer payment experience? Enquire about features like one-click payments, tokenisation for secure recurring payments, and personalised payment options tailored for Australian consumers.
Payments Cost Optimisation: Maximising Efficiency and ROI
What are the upfront and ongoing costs of your services? Clarify setup fees, transaction costs, subscription fees, and any hidden charges. Assess whether the pricing aligns with your budget.
Can you provide transparent breakdowns of transaction fees? Ask for detailed insights into costs like interchange fees, gateway fees, platform fees, minimum monthly fees, and currency conversion rates to ensure transparency.
What cost-saving opportunities do you offer for high transaction volumes? Some providers offer discounted rates for businesses with significant transaction volumes. Inquire about these options. Are there also minimum volume requirements?
Do you support batch processing or bulk payments? Bulk payments reduce processing costs and administrative effort, so check if this feature is available and whether overnight and/or real time processing is also now offered.
How do you assist with payment reconciliation? Automated reconciliation tools can save significant time and money. Verify if these are included.
What is your track record for uptime and reliability? Downtime can cost your business. Review their service-level agreements (SLAs) to ensure uptime guarantees.
Can you assist with migrating from our existing payment provider? Migration can be costly if mishandled. Understand what support they offer to minimise disruption and cost.
What measures do you have in place to optimise chargeback management? Effective chargeback management reduces losses and operational costs. Evaluate their process for handling disputes.
Do you offer real-time settlement or faster payment cycles? Faster access to funds can improve cash flow. Ensure their settlement timelines align with your business needs.
What training or resources do you provide for our team? Training can reduce errors and improve efficiency. Ask about documentation, webinars, or dedicated account support.
Risk Optimisation: Mitigating Threats and Ensuring Compliance
How do you ensure compliance with Australian and international regulations? Regulations like PCI DSS, the Consumer Data Right (CDR), and anti-money laundering (AML) laws are critical. Ensure their systems meet these standards.
What is your approach to data security and encryption? Ask about measures like tokenisation, end-to-end encryption, and compliance with ISO standards to secure customer data.
How do you handle data breaches and incident response? Understand their protocols for identifying, reporting, and resolving security incidents.
What level of fraud liability protection do you offer? Evaluate their liability policies to ensure your business isn’t left vulnerable in case of fraud.
How do you assess and monitor third-party integrations? Third-party risks can compromise security. Ensure they vet and monitor integrations to mitigate these risks.
What disaster recovery and business continuity plans do you have in place? Confirm their ability to restore services quickly in case of outages or cyberattacks.
Do you provide risk assessment tools or dashboards? Tools that offer insights into transaction risks and fraud trends can empower your risk management team.
How do you stay ahead of emerging threats in the payments landscape? Enquire about their investment in R&D and partnerships to adapt to evolving threats.
What is your policy for dispute resolution with customers and banks? A streamlined dispute process reduces risk and operational burden. Review their approach to resolving conflicts.
Can you provide references from businesses in similar industries? Speaking to existing clients can offer valuable insights into the provider’s reliability, support, and risk management practices.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right transaction banking and/or payment service provider in 2025 requires a holistic evaluation of their ability to deliver innovative features, optimise costs, and manage risks across both traditional and new payments products and platforms. Common outcomes in today's market will often see a selection of payments services from best in class providers for each supported by Payments System Integrators and Orchestrators.
By asking the above questions, you can ensure that your payments infrastructure, services and solutions aligns with your strategic objectives, enhances operational efficiency, and meets the expectations of both your business and customers in the Australian and global market.
As we kick off 2025, it’s a great time to set up a review meeting with your existing and a few new potential payments solution providers. You have 30 questions to start with now and we are very confident there will be a lot valuable information and insights to be gained in doing so.
Having ourselves been buyers and suppliers of payments solutions for over 25 years, we would be happy to assist with the above and finding an optimal outcome (and/or just getting a better deal); including the progression of the above into a more structured RFI / RFP process if required.
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