What is PayID & How Does It Work for Business?

What is PayID & How Does It Work for Business?

For a long time, bank transfers required a level of precision that left little room for error, with a BSB and an account number required every time. Get a single digit wrong and a payment could go missing, bounce back, or land in the wrong account entirely.  

This has traditionally been frustrating for individuals. For businesses with thousands of customers, it can add up to a great deal of lost time and money.

PayID is the modern alternative, replacing complex account details with something far simpler. For businesses, it can offer a faster and more reliable way to get paid.

What is PayID?

PayID is a simple ‘identifier’, such as an email address, phone number or ABN, that's linked to a bank account, allowing payments to be made and received without entering BSB and account numbers. Rather than relying on a string of digits that's easy to enter incorrectly, money can be sent to a PayID that's recognisable and far less prone to error.

For businesses, this means a unique PayID can be created and used across invoices, checkouts or account funding flows, and can give customers a simpler way to pay without needing to look up their bank details (it’s much easier to remember a phone number or email address than a BSB and account number).

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) 2025 Consumer Payments Survey¹, awareness of PayID rose from 57 per cent of respondents in 2022 to around 80 per cent in 2025, with usage nearly doubling over the same period, from 32 per cent to around 50 per cent of respondents reporting having used PayID in the past year. The RBA also notes that PayID has overtaken other emerging payment methods and now accounts for around 15 per cent of all account-to-account payments.  

To add to this, as reported by Proactive Investors², more than 25 million PayIDs have now been registered across Australia, demonstrating how the service has moved from a convenient but little-known banking feature into a common way of paying.

How PayID works

When a customer initiates a payment using a PayID, the system looks up the identifier and confirms the registered account it's linked to, along with the name associated with that account. This name appears to the payer before the payment is sent, giving them a clear confirmation that they're paying the right business.

Once confirmed, the payment moves in real time. Funds can be settled in near real time, the business receives confirmation promptly, and reconciliation can happen automatically by matching the payment against the PayID it was sent to. This can help reduce reliance on batch processing, minimise settlement delays and reduce the need for manual payment verification to confirm a payment has landed.

How PayID differs from traditional bank transfers

The most obvious difference is that PayID removes the need to input BSB and account numbers altogether, which removes a common source of payment errors.  

Where a traditional transfer is processed in batches, often with a delay before funds clear, PayID between participating banks usually settles in real time, so funds move and confirm within moments rather than hours or days.

Built-in payer verification is another point of difference. Traditional bank transfers often offer very little confirmation of who you're paying until the funds have already landed at their destination. PayID surfaces the registered name at the point of payment, giving the payer confidence before they commit to the transaction. These differences can help create a faster and simpler payment experience for many users, without the back and forth that's historically come with manual bank details.

Key benefits of PayID for businesses and consumers

For businesses, the shift to PayID can have a direct impact on cash flow, since payments are collected and settled in real time rather than sitting in a batch-based queue.  

Other benefits include:  

• Errors and failed transfers become less common because customers no longer need to manually input account details.

• Onboarding customers becomes more straightforward, since the payment instructions can be as simple as sharing a single identifier rather than a full set of banking details.  

• Immediate confirmation of transfers reduces the uncertainty of not knowing whether a payment has been sent, is delayed or has failed.  

• PayID payments can be automatically matched against the identifier they were sent to, which can reduce the time spent manually reconciling incoming bank transfers.

These benefits extend to the consumer experience as much as the business side thanks to simplified identifiers and real time confirmation when a payment has gone through.

Why PayID matters in 2026

Real-time payments are moving towards becoming the standard in Australia, and customer expectations have shifted accordingly. Instant, frictionless payment experiences are becoming an expectation, and businesses relying on manual payment processes may find it harder to meet evolving customer expectations.

PayID is also becoming a foundational layer for how account-to-account payments work more broadly, sitting alongside other real-time payment rails as part of a broader shift away from legacy transfer methods. For businesses building modern payment infrastructure, PayID is part of a connected payments ecosystem.

PayID and Monoova

Monoova’s payment solution enables businesses to create and manage PayIDs alongside other payment rails, providing the flexibility to offer customers a faster, simpler way to pay, with reconciliation and settlement designed to work together within a single payment flow.

Some of the industries we support with PayID infrastructure include insurance providers, investment platforms, utilities and remittance companies.  

Benefits include:  

• Real-time incoming payments for improved cashflow

• Customised PayIDs for all your customers or invoices

• Display your brand name in your payment information to build trust

• Instant settlement of funds designed to be available 24/7

PayID can be used on invoices, at the checkout and for account funding, offering convenience and security for you and your customers.  

Want to know more about how Monoova can help your business take advantage of PayID? Speak with a member of our team today.

FAQs

Q1: What is PayID?

A1: PayID is an Australian payment service that allows customers to send payments using a simple identifier such as a mobile number, email address or ABN instead of entering traditional BSB and account numbers.

Q2: How does PayID work for businesses?

A2: Businesses can create a PayID linked to their bank account and use it across invoices, checkouts or account funding flows, allowing customers to make faster payments with real-time confirmation and simpler payment details.

Q3: What are the benefits of PayID for businesses?

A3: PayID helps businesses receive payments faster, reduce payment errors, improve cash flow visibility and simplify reconciliation by providing real-time payment confirmation and structured payment information.

Q4: How is PayID different from a traditional bank transfer?

A4: Unlike traditional bank transfers that require customers to manually enter BSB and account numbers, PayID uses a simple identifier and provides payer verification before payment, helping reduce errors and improve confidence.

Q5: Is PayID a real-time payment method?

A5: Yes. PayID payments are processed through Australia's New Payments Platform (NPP), enabling near real-time payment processing, confirmation and settlement between participating financial institutions.

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¹ https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2026/may/consumer-payment-behaviour-in-australia.html

² https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/1094581/payid-adoption-grows-among-asx-listed-fintech-and-payments-companies-1094581.html