Belgian co-op to build, design and operate Australia’s NPP

12 August 2015

Last December, the Belgian financial messaging co-operative, SWIFT, won the contract to design, build and operate the Australia’s entire new payment system, New Payments Platform (NPP). The NPP is a major industry initiative to develop new national infrastructure for fast, flexible, data rich payments in Australia. It will provide Australian businesses and consumers with a fast, versatile, data-rich payments system for making their everyday payments.

NPP Australia has accepted the high level design concept for the New Payments Platform and will move the project into the “build and internal test” phase. In a statement released, NPP Australia said SWIFT had been working with the 12 participating organisations, as well as the Australian Payments Clearing Association and KPMG. It said the board had accepted the design, subject to resolution of a list of adjustments.

The New Payments Platform has been designed as a two-tiered system, combining payments infrastructure that will allow for data-rich real-time payments with competing commercial overlays. The project is scheduled for completion in early to mid 2017.