The Australian Financial Review today reports that Australia Post is scaling back its online bill payment service. While it is not good karma to rejoice at the hardship of another, I say good on Bpay for beating Australia Post in the online bill payment game.
Newsagents entered the over the counter bill payment space in 2003 in partnership with Bill Express. The Government owned Australia Post engaged in all manner of blocking tactics to stop the small business network from competing. One tactic involved a claim of intellectual property over the barcode billers printed on their bills.
Today, more than three years on, newsagent over the counter bill payment transaction volumes remain small compared to Australia Post. I would say that this is, in part, due to the aggressive stance taken by the Government business.
It is good to see Bpay hold their own against Australia Post. Bpay has done the hard yards in facilitating online bill payment on a large scale in Australia. Their efforts have been rewarded with loyal users of their service and the reputation of a strong and trusted ‘brand’ of bill payment.
Changes to the Act under which Austraia Post operates are needed in the interests of competition and protecting small business.
Hi,
This is actually real shame – the more postoffices are occupied processing bills the less time they’ll have to compete – with stationery etc.
The more we clog up Aust. Post the better in my view.
Cheers,
Phil