New report: Real-time payments solutions to enable faster funds for Australia’s growing gig economy

01/29/2019

● Every second gig economy worker would switch employers just to get paid fasteri
● Up to 3.1 billion transactions to be made via real-time payments solutions each year by 2023ii

 

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), the global payments technology company, today launched a report revealing that up to $10.1 trillion could be processed via real-time payments solutions each year in Australia by 2023ii – and there is sufficient demand for it, with gig economy workers wanting to be paid “within minutes” of completing a jobi.

Based on research conducted by Telsyte, Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future, predicts that by 2023, two-thirds of Australians will be using real-time payment solutions for a variety of payments including person-to-person (P2P), funds disbursements, and merchant settlementsiii. This equates to 3.1 billion transactions per yearii.

Telsyte’s forecasts represent total real-time payment volumes over the next five years, taking into consideration the growth and uptake of current real time payment solutions, as well as new future use cases.

Axel Boye-Moller, Visa Head of Product for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, said “While payments from consumers to merchants authorised in real-time have been the norm for many years in retail environments, there are still scenarios where payments aren’t yet instant. Real-time payment solutions will change this, enabling businesses and governments to disburse funds faster and all Australians to send money to friends and family in an instant, whether at home or abroad”.

On-demand salary for on-demand services: Gig economy disbursements

Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future highlights the opportunity provided by real-time payments solutions to the growing gig economy, made up of 4.9 million workers in Australia and predicted to employ 6.7 million in 2023iv. In fact, 45% of Australians say they would consider doing gig economy work to supplement their salary over the next 12 monthsi.

While extra income is positive, gig economy workers would like to receive it faster. The report found:

  • 54% of gig economy workers say the delay in getting paid is one of the hardest parts of their job and 53% say faster access to incomes would substantially improve their lifestylei.
  • 34% would pay a small fee to receive funds faster and 52% would switch employers if they could get paid more quicklyi.
  • 65% of gig economy workers would like to get paid within 24 hours of completing a task or service, and 59% would like to be paid within minutes of finishing the jobi.

Addressing Australia’s IOU problem: P2P payments

Visa’s report also reveals strong demand for real-time payments to make paying friends and family back more convenient:

  • A quarter of Australians admit to forgetting to pay back their friends or family after borrowing money, while one in six (16%) say they could not be bothered as the process is too arduousv.
  • 42% of Australians have money owed to them by friends or family and 44% say they find it too awkward to follow upv.
  • 48% would pay their friends or family back immediately if they could do so via a messaging platform or appvi.
  • Almost two thirds (62%) say real-time P2P would be useful for sending money to family and friends abroadv.

Australians are security conscious when it comes to adopting P2P services, with 85% saying they would want to know the service is secure and their data is being protectedvii. More than three in four (78%) say it would be important to have a trusted payments brand providing the service, and 64% say their bank logo being visible would make them feel comfortablevii.

“As Australians, our lifestyles are changing. Many of us have family and friends living abroad, the way we work is evolving, and naturally our expectations are shifting too. We want secure, convenient and fast ways to pay and be paid, wherever we are.

“Real-time payments solutions will enable a new wave of experiences. And it’s important for businesses to take note, as these solutions will be increasingly critical to building and retaining loyalty from customers and employees,” said Mr Boye-Moller.

Visa Direct is Visa’s real-time payments solution, bringing the best of Visa’s global network to enable real-time payments to and from more than three billion Visa cards around the world. It enables customers, through their financial institutions, to send and receive P2P payments, funds disbursements and business-to-business settlements directly to an eligible Visa card account in a fast, secure way – anywhere in the world.

 

i Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 9 (January 2019)

ii Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 6 (January 2019)

iii Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 7 (January 2019)

iv Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 8 (January 2019)

v Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 10 (January 2019)

vi Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 4 (January 2019)

vii Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future: The real-time payments opportunity, p. 11 (January 2019)

 

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog.html and @VisaNews.

About Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future

The Visa Insights: Australia’s Fast Future is a report prepared by Visa exploring the growth of real-time payments in Australia. Except where stated otherwise, the figures in this report are drawn from research conducted by Telsyte on behalf of Visa. This report was produced by Telsyte using primary and secondary research. Telsyte analysts also drew upon years of experience monitoring emerging technology markets and forecasting consumer and business technology trends. When forecasting the number of real-time payments expected by 2023 and their accompanying value, Telsyte first drew on an extensive bank of proprietary research, identifying a number of probable assumptions. Next, these assumptions were compared against external data sources to establish the probability that each of them would happen. Upon this foundation, Telsyte then built its own forecasts for the growth of realtime payments over the next five years, and the value that would represent.