Cleared for takeoff: Bonza selects Monoova to become first airline to launch PayTo

SYDNEY, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- B2B digital payments firm and Australia's largest PayTo provider, Monoova, has been selected by Australia's newest airline Bonza to offer PayTo's seamless, fee-free payment option for consumers paying online for their flights or travel booking, without credit card or other surcharge fees.

As Australia's only independent low-cost airline, Bonza was an attractive partner for Monoova given its unique positioning as a market challenger.

The move occurs in the wake of Australia Post's POLi Payments exit from the market on 30 September, as PayTo continues to emerge as the frontrunning account-to-account payments solution for Australian businesses and consumers.

Previously, POLi was often the preferred low-cost payment option for the travel industry, and a method for many other large organisations to receive direct payments from customer bank accounts.

Now, PayTo corrects for several of POLi's limitations: it enables fee-free transactions for big ticket purchases with significantly reduced risk of fraud and chargeback. There's no need for the customer to share bank login details. It offers real time notifications and - importantly - instantaneous receipt of cleared and settled funds.

PayTo reduces the risk of fraud and chargebacks by requiring payment "agreements" to be authorised through the customer's online bank before a first payment is made. These agreements can either be 'once-off' or 'recurring', the latter allowing for both subscription billing and repeat ad-hoc purchases.

Once an agreement has been authorised, money moves to the business account in seconds, speeding up cash flow by up to 5 days compared to some traditional account-to-account payments.

PayTo is particularly well suited to support the travel industry due to the regularity of high-value transactions. These trigger large merchant fees for airlines and travel agencies, and surcharges for consumers. High-value transactions are also more likely to be charged-back if funded by cards.

Moreover, when ticket items are large, both consumers and merchants benefit from instant acknowledgement and settlement of cleared funds to reduce uncertainty as to the success of the transaction, and improve cash flow.

Bonza's pioneering move from POLi to PayTo is likely to be the first of many in the aviation industry, according to Monoova, with corporate Australia becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of PayTo over traditional payment methods.

Christian Westerlind Wigstrom, CEO of Monoova, said: "The travel industry embracing real-time debit is a pivotal moment in the evolution of payments in Australia. We fully expect other industries to follow suit. PayTo will quickly become the preferred payment method for a wide array of online transactions.

"This transition will not only be driven by the need to provide speed and convenience for businesses. PayTo is also a game-changer for security and the overall customer experience. It significantly decreases vulnerability to fraud and safeguards consumers' financial well-being. No sensitive credit card information is shared. It offers businesses instantaneous transaction tracking and financial transparency, which leads to multiple operational efficiencies and improved customer relationships.

"It's a win-win for both consumers and businesses in every single way. Very soon, we will struggle to remember life before PayTo."

Tim Jordan, CEO & founder of Bonza, said: "We are thrilled to be working with Moonova as Bonza continues to focus on technology to improve efficiencies and in turn, help make airfares more affordable for Aussie travellers."

Monoova (www.monoova.com) is a pioneering Australian B2B digital payments provider and one of the first providers of real-time direct debits alternative, PayTo. Monoova helps businesses with large, ongoing transaction flows to manage payments automatically, through one simple API integration. This creates significant cost reduction, increased efficiency and speed, and overall enhanced ability to scale. In addition to PayTo, Monoova also offers enhanced Direct Debit, BPAY, Direct Entry, NPP, automated reconciliation and cross-border payments.