Australia and New Zealand Look to New Era in Real-Time Payments – ACI Worldwide Report

Australia and New Zealand are looking to a new era in real-time payments with a renewed sense of urgency and rush to modernise as the region seeks to make ground on regional competitors, according to the 3rd edition of Prime Time for Real Time 2022, published by ACI Worldwide, (NASDAQ: ACIW), in partnership with GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The report – tracking real-time payments volumes and growth across 53 countries – includes an economic impact study for the first time, providing a comprehensive view of the economic benefits of real-time payments for consumers, businesses and the broader economy across 30 countries. The report covers all G20 nations, excluding Russia. * The research shows that governments that advance the real-time modernization of their national payments infrastructure create a win-win situation for all stakeholders in the payments ecosystem: consumers and businesses benefit from fast, frictionless and hyper-connected payments services, financial institutions future-proof their business in a highly competitive environment by speeding up cloud-first and data-centric modernization, and national governments boost economic growth, reduce the size of their shadow economy and create a fairer financial system for all. Highlights Australia and New Zealand Australia:

• Real-time payments in Australia account for only 5.5% of total payments transaction volume with growth hindered by the country's strong reliance and preference for card-based schemes.
• In 2021, Australia recorded 970 million real-time transactions resulting in estimated cost savings of $205 million for businesses and consumers in 2021 – which helped to unlock $US932 million of additional economic output, representing 0.06% of the country's GDP.
• With real-time payments transaction numbers expected to rise to 2.4 billion in 2026 – net savings for consumers and businesses are forecast to climb to US$ 628 million, helping to generate an additional US$1.4 billion of economic output, equivalent to 0.07% of the country's forecasted GDP.

New Zealand:

• New Zealand currently has no formal real-time payments scheme. Electronic payments dominate the country's payment space, occupying 59% of the total payments volume in 2021.
• Covid identified and magnified gaps in the country's payment infrastructure. In response, Payments New Zealand, the standards body set up by the leading banks, is coordinating the exploration of infrastructure options for the country's first real-time payments scheme

"Australia and New Zealand have a terrific opportunity to close the gap on its regional rivals and help re-energise its economies post COVID," said Chris Hill, Head of Pacific, ACI Worldwide. "The region has all the practical elements for global success but making up ground in a world with constantly developing infrastructure and services will require concerted action, commitment, and coordination across governments and industry to reap the full benefits." "Real-time transactions and growth forecasts continue to rise globally, with emerging countries like India leading the way and outpacing developed nations. Governments around the globe who enable real-time schemes are driving economic growth and prosperity by providing consumers and businesses with cheaper, faster, and more efficient payment methods," said Jeremy Wilmot, Chief Product Officer, ACI Worldwide. "By allowing for the transfer of money between parties within seconds rather than days, real-time payments improve overall market efficiencies in the economy," commented Owen Good, Head of Advisory, Centre for Economic and Business Research. "Real-time payments improve liquidity in the financial system and therefore function as a catalyst for economic growth. This is especially important for our fast-paced and digital-led gig economies. Workers are paid quickly, allowing them to better plan their finances. Businesses have more flexibility and reduce the need for burdensome cashflow management." "Developing nations continue to drive the majority of real-time volume gains, confirming the industry trend of the strongest growth coming from economies with minimal existing electronic payments infrastructure, and therefore heavier reliance on cash," said Sam Murrant, Lead Analyst, GlobalData. "Amid all this activity, mobile in its multiple forms will shape the trajectory of real-time payments for developing markets. India provides the template for mobile wallet integration with underlying real-time payment systems. Mobile will still be the leading form factor in developed markets. However, we may see banks' involvement sitting more behind wallets."