Australia’s low fares airline Jetstar has introduced POLi™ which facilitates real time payment for bookings made on Jetstar.com, the airline’s largest distribution channel, via internet banking.

Previously Jetstar customers could pay with a Visa or Mastercard debit card however the introduction of POLi™ adds the convenience and security of internet banking to allow payments to be made directly from debit funds accounts.

POLi™ is now available for all Australian customers with customers in New Zealand introduced to POLi™ by the end of the year.

Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said the carrier was constantly looking for new tools to continue to refine the customer offering with greater convenience.

“Jetstar has always offered an alternative online banking payment option as well as a credit card for the direct retail purchase of its fares,” Mr Buchanan said.

“However its adoption makes sense to us as a large cross section of Australians don’t possess a credit card including up to 50 per cent under 24 years despite levels of regular internet banking activity now being very high.”

The adoption of POLi™ by Jetstar is a significant development for the innovative payment method, according to Simon Warner, CEO of Centricom.

“With a substantial and growing share of the domestic aviation market representing millions of passengers a year, most of whom pay online, Jetstar represents a major opportunity for the POLi™ brand to further establish itself as a mainstream payment type.”

The POLi™ service is currently available to customers who bank with ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, Bank of Queensland, BankWest, St.George and Suncorp.

Two days into the launch of the new POLi online payment system and it is proving an outstanding success, giving customers greater flexibility and choice when paying for their flights.

Air New Zealand has introduced the world leading online payment technology to enable its customers to pay for flights directly from their bank account. It can be used to book any flight, including same day travel.

Bruce Parton, Air New Zealand’s Group General Manager Short Haul Airline, says POLi is a great alternative for people without a credit card, or those who don’t wish to use them.

“In the current economic climate internet banking is a great payment option if you do not have a credit card, or would prefer not to add to your credit card balance.

“The process is quick, easy and safe. Customers simply select to pay by internet banking on the ticket purchase page, choose their bank from the list and follow the prompts provided by POLi and the customer’s electronic ticket is issued instantly once payment is complete.”

When using POLi to purchase flights everything is done within the security of the customers’ online banking facility and at no time is it required to disclose personal banking details to Air New Zealand.

Customers in New Zealand and Australia can now choose to use the payment option. Anyone who has access to the Pay Anyone functionality offered by a supported online banking facility can use POLi. Payment is instantly debited from your account and your booking will be confirmed - it's as easy as that.

Air New Zealand is the first airline in New Zealand and Australia to use the innovative technology. The provider of the technology is Centricom Pty Ltd, a Melbourne based online payments business.

Betfair, a global online betting exchange, unlike a corporate bookmaker, matches bets between customers who hold opposing views about the outcome of a particular sporting event. The service also allows more sophisticated wagers, such as betting that a particular outcome will not happen (known as 'laying'). Betfair players can choose the odds they wish to bet at while an event is in progress, and manage their position if the odds change.

Behind this flexibility is state-of-the-art computing technology, capable of processing a vast number of transactions at lightning speed. So when Betfair decided to establish a presence in the Australian wagering market, it sought an online payment system that could match its technology, without imposing a charge on customers that would deter them from using the service.

“In Australia, there are three major ways of moving money online, and none of them suited our business model. Firstly, credit cards offer instant transactions, but are expensive. The total cost to merchant and customer can be 3% of the transaction amount and there are issues around security.”

“The second option is bank transfers. These are cheap but can require overnight processing. If, for example, you wish to bet on the outcome of a football match while it is in progress, this method is entirely unsuitable. The third option includes systems such as PayPal. These are instant, but also expensive.”

According to Giles Thompson (CFO of Betfair Australia), POLi™ was the only product that offered the right combination of speed, low cost and security. “We were looking for a system that would fit our business and POLi met all our requirements. It provides instant transactions at a very low cost, and is simple to use.”

“Another major factor in choosing POLi was security. It is essential to Betfair that we provide customers with a high degree of comfort in this matter. Both the merchant and the customer must have confidence in the security of the payment system. If you can't offer this, you will be shunned by your customers.”

Mr Thompson said customer feedback to POLi had been very positive. “We are also finding we get a lot of repeat business from customers using POLi. This indicates that once they are accustomed to the system, they are showing a strong preference for it. This is not surprising, when you factor in the cost and security advantages.”

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NetChoice, the e-commerce advocacy group, applauds the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for voicing its concerns about the potential for credit card fraud to undermine e-commerce.

Philip Lowe, Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the RBA, made the following comments at Cards & Payments Australasia 2009 in Sydney on 24 March 2009:

“…fraud rates on online transactions appear to be steadily increasing. Almost half the fraud on credit cards occurs in situations where the merchant does not physically see the card, with the fraud rate increasing by around 50 per cent over the past year. If this trend were to continue, it could undermine consumer confidence in transacting online which would have obvious costs.”

“Mr Lowe has named the elephant in the room that few e-commerce firms are willing to address,” said NetChoice executive director Steve DelBianco. “Credit cards are fundamentally more vulnerable to fraud and identity theft. Yet credit cards are the dominant online payment method, so I’m concerned that the Assistant Governor’s warning could cause some to hesitate to buy online.”

NetChoice called on the Australian Government to educate consumers about safer payment methods. “When customers in Australia pay by PayPal, POLi, or Paymate, their credit card number is not shared with the merchant. That’s one reason these payment systems are safer than using credit cards or bank transfers to do e-commerce. The government’s education programs about safe online behaviour ought to tell consumers that there are better ways to buy online.” said DelBianco.

About NetChoice

NetChoice is a coalition of trade associations and e-Commerce businesses who share the goal of promoting convenience, choice and commerce on the Net. NetChoice members include POLi, AOL, eBay, NewsCorp, Paymate, VeriSign, and Yahoo.

Centricom Pty Ltd and Betfair today announced a deal offering Betfair customers the choice to pay via the POLi payment system, commencing February 2009.

Betfair is Australia’s only licensed betting exchange. A betting exchange is a wagering operator that uses state-of-the-art technology to enable it to match bets by punters with opposing views about a particular race or sporting event. Bets can also be placed whilst an event is ‘in–play’, or as it is underway.

Betfair CEO, Andrew Twaits said, “POLi offers a convenient and straightforward payment alternative for our customers to directly transfer funds into their Betfair account via internet banking. It also gives our customers more options, particularly those who don’t have a credit card or don’t like using them over the internet.

“Betfair already offers unprecedented choice, value and control to its customers and with the introduction of POLi, we’re confident they will also benefit from the convenience afforded by the new payment method. The new partnership between Betfair and POLi is a win for our customers.”

Betfair is an Australian company (a 50:50 joint venture between Crown Limited and Betfair UK) and has been licensed in Tasmania since February 2006. It also has licences in the UK, Malta, Austria and Germany. Betfair currently employs in excess of 100 people in Australia.

Simon Warner, CEO of Centricom, the operator of POLi, said “Betfair customers will find transferring funds to their Betfair account is very straight-forward and safe. They simply choose POLi as their payment option to transfer funds or top-up their account and are automatically transferred to the security and privacy of their own bank’s internet banking system. Once they’ve instructed their bank to transfer funds to their account, they and Betfair receive an instant payment confirmation and the funds are transferred. “They will find POLi is like having eftpos online. It’s a convenient extension of their internet banking facility.”

POLi is a safe and smart method of payment, as neither Betfair nor POLi receive any of the customer’s private bank details; it is a secure transaction only between the customer and their bank’s Internet site.