Payment Optimisation: The Strategic Advantage Your Business Needs
Discover how the new Payment Matters website can help your business take control of payment processes, reduce costs, and build strategic advantage through expert payment optimisation strategies.
Introducing Payment Matters: A New Era in Payment Optimisation
Today marks an exciting milestone with the launch of the Payment Matters website, a dedicated platform designed to help Australian businesses transform their approach to payments.
In an increasingly complex financial landscape, payments have evolved from a simple operational necessity to a strategic lever that directly impacts profitability, customer experience, and competitive advantage. The new Payment Matters platform serves as your compass through this complexity, offering insights, tools, and expert guidance to optimise your payment ecosystem.
But what exactly is payment optimisation, and why has it become such a critical focus for forward-thinking businesses?
At its core, payment optimisation is the systematic process of enhancing payment operations to reduce costs, improve efficiency, minimise risk, and create strategic advantage. Far more than simply negotiating better rates with providers, true optimisation takes a holistic view of your entire payment ecosystem—uncovering hidden inefficiencies, streamlining processes, and creating sustainable value.
The Hidden Cost of Payment Inefficiency
Most Australian businesses are unaware of how much they're truly paying for payments. While the headline merchant service fee may be visible, it represents only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface lie scheme fees, network charges, cross-border surcharges, tokenisation costs, compliance expenses, and operational inefficiencies that collectively erode profit margins.
According to industry research, the average business overpays by 15–25% on payment processing due to suboptimal setups, inefficient routing, and lack of visibility.
This problem is particularly acute for mid-sized businesses that process significant payment volumes but lack the specialised payment expertise found in large enterprises.
Even a seemingly small inefficiency of 0.3% for a business processing $50 million annually translates to $150,000 in unnecessary costs each year.
The complexity of payment ecosystems makes identifying these inefficiencies challenging. Most businesses operate with multiple payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers, gateways, and fraud prevention tools—creating a fragmented landscape where costs and performance are difficult to track holistically. This fragmentation often leads to:
Data silos that prevent a complete view of performance
Inefficient routing of transactions that increases costs
Operational complexities that consume valuable time and resources
The newly launched Payment Matters website addresses these challenges head-on, offering a structured approach to payment optimisation that brings clarity to complexity.
The Four-Phase Payment Optimisation Model
At the heart of Payment Matters' approach lies a proven four-phase model designed to transform how businesses manage their payments.
Phase 1: Clarity
The journey begins with a comprehensive Payment Cost Audit that provides complete visibility into your payment ecosystem. This forensic review examines what fees you're actually paying, who's charging them, and whether they align with agreed terms.
Mapping your entire payments ecosystem allows you to establish a baseline and measure future progress.
Phase 2: Optimise
With a clear understanding of your payment landscape, the focus shifts to implementing quick wins and operational fixes—without major disruptions or provider changes.
Typical actions include:
Correcting fee discrepancies
Optimising routing to favour lower-cost outcomes
Implementing least-cost routing for debit
Streamlining reconciliation processes
Phase 3: Strategise
This phase involves developing a future-ready roadmap aligned with your long-term business goals, including vendor capability benchmarking, fraud prevention, and loyalty integration.
Phase 4: Partner
Establish ongoing expertise through a Fractional Chief Payment Officer. This service gives you access to specialised guidance without hiring a full-time executive, ensuring your strategy evolves with the market.
Payment Optimisation in Practice: Australian Success Stories
The Payment Matters website showcases real-world success stories that demonstrate the power of structured optimisation.
A marketplace using a PSP-agnostic token vault improved authorisation rates by 3.2% and reduced costs through better routing.
A mid-sized retailer saved 22% on payment costs via least-cost routing and renegotiated processor terms.
A growing online business improved conversion by 5% by refining fraud management and retry logic.
These examples show that optimisation isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about unlocking strategic value.
The Strategic Imperative: Why Now?
The launch of Payment Matters coincides with a period of major change in Australia’s payment environment. Several trends are making optimisation more important than ever:
Payment costs are rising, even with regulatory caps.
New platforms like NPP offer real-time capabilities but require planning.
Legacy systems like BECS are phasing out by 2030.
Customer expectations are shifting toward wallets, A2A, and BNPL.
Technology tools like orchestration and AI routing unlock new efficiency—but require expert implementation.
Payment Matters provides the tools and insights to help businesses stay ahead.
Implications for Key Sectors
While any business can benefit from payment optimisation, certain sectors stand to gain even more:
Public Transit Operators: Managing open-loop payments and fare types requires clarity across routing rules and operational layers.
Prepaid Card Programs: Multiple intermediaries erode margins—optimisation helps simplify the value chain.
Loyalty Programs: Tracking, valuing, and settling loyalty currencies introduces complexity—optimisation clarifies partner flows.
General Business: Many miss out on fee savings due to lack of visibility into scheme fees, FX markups, and settlement delays.
Getting Started with Payment Matters
Choose the right pathway for your needs:
Payment Optimisation Toolkit: Free templates and best practices to start your journey.
Payment Cost Audit: A deep dive into your ecosystem with prioritised recommendations.
Fractional Chief Payment Officer: Ongoing expertise without the full-time cost.
Stay informed through our blog, featuring updates on regulatory changes, technology, and optimisation trends.
Conclusion: From Cost Centre to Strategic Asset
The Payment Matters platform isn’t just a website - it’s a shift in how businesses can turn payments into a strategic advantage.
In a time when margins are tight and operations must be lean, payment optimisation offers a unique opportunity to improve profitability without increasing sales.
The payment landscape will only grow more complex. Businesses that act now will be best positioned to thrive.
Take the Next Step in Your Payment Optimisation Journey
For CFOs, Operations Directors, and CEOs, Payment Matters offers the guidance and tools you need.
Start with our complimentary Payment Optimisation Assessment to uncover hidden inefficiencies and prioritise actions.
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