Payment Platforms - What are your thoughts?

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

Hi AFF's,


It's been a crazy few weeks given the uptake from both our Qantas Business Rewards and Velocity FF promotions. Now that we have a few weeks of normality I thought I'd check in and pose a question to those that are both pre-existing clients or users of other payments platforms much like our own - What is something you would like to see/ find most useful on such platforms?

We're more than aware of the common, "Lower your fees" statement - this is something we're always looking to better and negotiate with our providers.

Can't wait to hear from you


James

 

[daft009]

I think you guys have everything covered.....

except the Amex fee

 

[Bell21]

I think you guys have everything covered.....

except the Amex fee

well done daft009 - that was my exact thought too!

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

I think you guys have everything covered.....

except the Amex fee

Hahaha, appreciate the feedback. As mentioned above, this is definitely something we're trying to chip away at

 

[daft009]

oh, and is any MYOB integration possible?

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

oh, and is any MYOB integration possible?

On the way! We're hoping to launch our MYOB integration within the coming month - this will cater to MYOB AccountRight users.

 

[daft009]

thought of something else...

is it possible to have a sub-user account connected to my master login?

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

thought of something else...

is it possible to have a sub-user account connected to my master login?

As in a system that enables you to have 1 'Master Account' with a single login and then you can select the business you want to utilise from there? Or the option to have multiple users with differing allowances on the account (this is already available).

 

[pangwen]

A few ideas/questions, some of which might just be my own ignorance:
1. Options to link both QBR and Velocity to your Yak Pay account and select which program the points go to, on a payment-by-payment basis (I think I might have mentioned this one before)
2. Payroll integration - I'm not 100% sure whether paying staff is allowed currently so I haven't investigated YP too for this, and it may already be possible. For me, this is complicated by the fact that family members are on the payroll so there might be 'issues' with some payment methods. It would also be good to know how quickly/frequently bank transfer transactions are processed on your end if we use NPP to transfer funds over.
3. I noticed MYOB integration was mentioned above. I use Sage Accounting, any chance of integration here?
4. You mentioned that "multiple users with differing allowances on the account" is already available. Could you expand on this? For example, it might be useful for me to allow my staff to review and then upload invoices to YP, and then flick it to me to approve payment in YP. Is this already possible?
5. Speaking of pricing - did the bank transfer option get more expensive in the last few months? I recall it used to be 0.5%+GST, but it's now showing 0.6%+GST (perhaps my recollection is incorrect).
6. If we make irregular payments to suppliers that are almost identical (e.g. we buy a product when we need it, so the price is known but the timing is unknown), it would be good to have an option when looking at previous transactions to "pay again". This would then take you to the "create payment"->"payment details" screen with everything filled in based on the previous payment (but editable if you need to change something).
7. Any options for partnerships with other airline reward schemes? Purely selfishly, it would be great if you could have a partnership with an airline that flies to Australia (or at least flew pre-COVID), but aren't partners with many/any AU credit card rewards schemes (e.g. American Airlines, China Airlines, Eva Air, Korean Air, Air Canada, United, Japan Airlines)

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

A few ideas/questions, some of which might just be my own ignorance:
1. Options to link both QBR and Velocity to your Yak Pay account and select which program the points go to, on a payment-by-payment basis (I think I might have mentioned this one before)
2. Payroll integration - I'm not 100% sure whether paying staff is allowed currently so I haven't investigated YP too for this, and it may already be possible. For me, this is complicated by the fact that family members are on the payroll so there might be 'issues' with some payment methods. It would also be good to know how quickly/frequently bank transfer transactions are processed on your end if we use NPP to transfer funds over.
3. I noticed MYOB integration was mentioned above. I use Sage Accounting, any chance of integration here?
4. You mentioned that "multiple users with differing allowances on the account" is already available. Could you expand on this? For example, it might be useful for me to allow my staff to review and then upload invoices to YP, and then flick it to me to approve payment in YP. Is this already possible?
5. Speaking of pricing - did the bank transfer option get more expensive in the last few months? I recall it used to be 0.5%+GST, but it's now showing 0.6%+GST (perhaps my recollection is incorrect).
6. If we make irregular payments to suppliers that are almost identical (e.g. we buy a product when we need it, so the price is known but the timing is unknown), it would be good to have an option when looking at previous transactions to "pay again". This would then take you to the "create payment"->"payment details" screen with everything filled in based on the previous payment (but editable if you need to change something).
7. Any options for partnerships with other airline reward schemes? Purely selfishly, it would be great if you could have a partnership with an airline that flies to Australia (or at least flew pre-COVID), but aren't partners with many/any AU credit card rewards schemes (e.g. American Airlines, China Airlines, Eva Air, Korean Air, Air Canada, United, Japan Airlines)

1. Noted. I can't see why it wouldn't be possible and definitely something that can be added into the pipeline - I'll pass it onto the dev team.

2. I'm going to split this answer in 2 - a) Payroll payments are absolutely allowed via the platform, however at this point in time they can only be done via the Bank Transfer payment method - credit card providers are apprehensive about allowing this type of payment. Family members can be included in these payment runs b) The timing for Bank Transfer payments is as follows: process the payment(s) on any given business day before 4pm (Melbourne time), the latest we will then push them out by is 5:30pm given that they are received before then. Your payees will then receive the funds that evening. Please note, if you were to make the payment on the weekend we would then complete the process on Monday in the early afternoon - these payments would be received on Monday evening.

3. This is definitely something the team are looking to implement in the future, given the prevalence of Sage overseas it's almost a requirement if we are to go down that route in the future - keep an eye on this space.

4. The workflow you mention here is absolutely achievable via the platform. When you add a new user on the platform it provides a number of fields that you are able to select that determine that users specific allowances on the platform. If you don't select them as "Payments Approvers" they will be able to add and review payments, however they will not be able to process them. They would then need to notify you once this is done so that you can login and complete the processing of the payments.

5. There was a special processing fee of 0.5% +GST at the launch of Bank Transfer for newly onboarded Velocity clients - this was then amended back to 0.6% + GST after that promotion had completed.

6. I'm not sure if the development team have ever thought of a feature like this before, however it definitely does make sense given the amount of people that make recurring payments via our system at irregular intervals. I'll forward this to them alongside your other suggestions.

7. This is at the forefront of our ongoing plans. It's obviously not a fast process putting these things in place however given we've just completed our second promo with Qantas Business Rewards I'm sure the team are keen to keep implementing new Reward Programs with new partners - this is definitely a space that's going to keep progressing going forwards.

 

[Mattg]

7. This is at the forefront of our ongoing plans. It's obviously not a fast process putting these things in place however given we've just completed our second promo with Qantas Business Rewards I'm sure the team are keen to keep implementing new Reward Programs with new partners - this is definitely a space that's going to keep progressing going forwards.

+1

I would definitely be interested in an option to earn points/miles in overseas frequent flyer programs such as American Airlines AAdvantage, Singapore KrisFlyer or Air Canada Aeroplan. (Don't bother with some of the rubbish ones like NZ Airpoints or MH Enrich...)

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

+1

I would definitely be interested in an option to earn points/miles in overseas frequent flyer programs such as American Airlines AAdvantage, Singapore KrisFlyer or Air Canada Aeroplan. (Don't bother with some of the rubbish ones like NZ Airpoints or MH Enrich...)

Noted

 

[daft009]

As in a system that enables you to have 1 'Master Account' with a single login and then you can select the business you want to utilise from there? Or the option to have multiple users with differing allowances on the account (this is already available).

thanks, never knew. now I can tell my accounts person to setup their own account!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I'd add to this, having used Yak Pay as well as rival platforms like RewardPay, B2BPay, EasyBillPay and now most recently Sniip.

Yak seems to be much more 'involved' in checking things manually versus the others, which adds to the time taken to make payments and reduces the convenience factor somewhat.

For instance, when I added a credit card to the account, I had to attach a card statement with the same number before Yak would (manually) approve it. This meant I couldn't use my preferred 'additional card' (AMEX A/C card) on the account as obviously that number doesn't match the statement number, but I have no problems using that additional card on other platforms. (Sure, I probably could have tried and then taken the time to explain it to customer care, but honestly, I just wanted to get a payment on the move, and that's something I can do via the other platforms without digging up card statements, having to use a different card, or pleading my case to customer care).

As well, for the first card-funded payment I made, Yak's "Compliance" team blocked it the next day pending further investigation. Had to supply a copy of the invoice along with an explanation of what the payment was for. Yes, Yak approved it (wasn't anything nefarious or prohibited, LOL), but that manual intervention again slowed things down, took up more of my time, and made Yak less convenient from that time perspective (as again, I've not had payments frozen through any other platform, including to the same biller).

When it comes to onboarding new businesses too, Yak can either be easy or difficult. Signing up my business was relatively easy with the digital identity check and a utility bill showing name and address etc gaining approval the next business day, but a friend of mine seemed to get a much thorough 'checking' to the point where Yak Pay kept calling them when they were busy with clients (why they couldn't just try calling once, leave a voicemail, and let the person call them back when they're not busy earning the business' revenue is a mystery), but they got there in the end.

While I completely understand that some checks are necessary (and especially so for new customers, who don't have an established transaction history with Yak Pay), anything you can do to automate or streamline some of those checks and processes would be great.

 

[BillytheFIsh]

I'd add to this, having used Yak Pay as well as rival platforms like RewardPay, B2BPay, EasyBillPay and now most recently Sniip.

Yak seems to be much more 'involved' in checking things manually versus the others, which adds to the time taken to make payments and reduces the convenience factor somewhat.

Using the Sniip app for Amex payments is great. About 10 seconds and you're done.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Using the Sniip app for Amex payments is great. About 10 seconds and you're done.

Indeed - but they need to sort out AMEX payments to DEFT billers, as Sniip is still blocking AMEX on these pending some kind of back-end fix. Works brilliantly using AMEX on other bills, however!

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

I'd add to this, having used Yak Pay as well as rival platforms like RewardPay, B2BPay, EasyBillPay and now most recently Sniip.

Yak seems to be much more 'involved' in checking things manually versus the others, which adds to the time taken to make payments and reduces the convenience factor somewhat.

For instance, when I added a credit card to the account, I had to attach a card statement with the same number before Yak would (manually) approve it. This meant I couldn't use my preferred 'additional card' (AMEX A/C card) on the account as obviously that number doesn't match the statement number, but I have no problems using that additional card on other platforms. (Sure, I probably could have tried and then taken the time to explain it to customer care, but honestly, I just wanted to get a payment on the move, and that's something I can do via the other platforms without digging up card statements, having to use a different card, or pleading my case to customer care).

As well, for the first card-funded payment I made, Yak's "Compliance" team blocked it the next day pending further investigation. Had to supply a copy of the invoice along with an explanation of what the payment was for. Yes, Yak approved it (wasn't anything nefarious or prohibited, LOL), but that manual intervention again slowed things down, took up more of my time, and made Yak less convenient from that time perspective (as again, I've not had payments frozen through any other platform, including to the same biller).

When it comes to onboarding new businesses too, Yak can either be easy or difficult. Signing up my business was relatively easy with the digital identity check and a utility bill showing name and address etc gaining approval the next business day, but a friend of mine seemed to get a much thorough 'checking' to the point where Yak Pay kept calling them when they were busy with clients (why they couldn't just try calling once, leave a voicemail, and let the person call them back when they're not busy earning the business' revenue is a mystery), but they got there in the end.

While I completely understand that some checks are necessary (and especially so for new customers, who don't have an established transaction history with Yak Pay), anything you can do to automate or streamline some of those checks and processes would be great.

Noted on this. Obviously we are required to do our due diligence given the nature of the business but as you mentioned, there may be areas here that we can further streamline and automate. I've flicked your feedback across to both our Compliance Manager and Customer Service Director.

 

[Jacques Vert]

+1

I would definitely be interested in an option to earn points/miles in overseas frequent flyer programs such as American Airlines AAdvantage, Singapore KrisFlyer or Air Canada Aeroplan. (Don't bother with some of the rubbish ones like NZ Airpoints or MH Enrich...)

And, dare I say it, perhaps a Skyteam airline?

 

[pangwen]

One thing that came to my mind today - one of the things I liked about another payment platform was that it would tailor the transaction name to include the payee, so that each transaction that showed up on online banking would show:

"PAYMENT_PLATFORM_NAME*PAYEE PAYEE_LOCATION"

All of Yakpay's transactions currently come through as "YAK PAY INTERNATIONAL CAMBERWELL", so when doing multiple transactions, I get several rows of the same transaction descriptor in my online banking (which gets pulled into my accounting software). It's not a major deal because I can then pick out what is what based on the transaction date and value, but it would be handy if the transaction details could be tailored so that they would show (for example) "YAK PAY*ATO SYDNEY". It would make sorting and classifying transactions a lot simpler.

 

[Yak Pay | Payment Logic]

One thing that came to my mind today - one of the things I liked about another payment platform was that it would tailor the transaction name to include the payee, so that each transaction that showed up on online banking would show:

"PAYMENT_PLATFORM_NAME*PAYEE PAYEE_LOCATION"

All of Yakpay's transactions currently come through as "YAK PAY INTERNATIONAL CAMBERWELL", so when doing multiple transactions, I get several rows of the same transaction descriptor in my online banking (which gets pulled into my accounting software). It's not a major deal because I can then pick out what is what based on the transaction date and value, but it would be handy if the transaction details could be tailored so that they would show (for example) "YAK PAY*ATO SYDNEY". It would make sorting and classifying transactions a lot simpler.

Hi Pangwen,

Apologies for the delayed reply.

This is feedback we have been receiving quite consistently over the years. Each provider/ bank will display payments made via our platform differently which is often out of our control. However I've since spoken to one of our developers and they will be following this up with one of our partners - I hope to have a positive response to this shortly as I can understand how this may be frustrating/ confusing.

Thanks for your feedback.