Australian Payments Plus (AP+) is set to revolutionize online debit card payments by integrating least-cost routing (LCR) into its eftpos Click to Pay service, in partnership with technology firm Giesecke+Devrient (G+D). This marks a global first for online debit payments, allowing merchants to route transactions through the most cost-effective network automatically.
Click to Pay offers consumers a secure, streamlined checkout experience by replacing manually entered card details with a digital token. The addition of LCR enables merchants to reduce processing costs by bypassing expensive card schemes in favor of lower-cost alternatives.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, merchants with LCR enabled save nearly 20% on debit transaction fees. While LCR is already popular for in-store and mobile wallet payments, it has largely been absent from online guest checkouts—until now.
AP+ is already collaborating with Google to bring eftpos and LCR functionality to Google Wallet users, with ANZ and Suncorp as the first issuers to go live. The full rollout of this new Click to Pay feature is expected by 2026.
Adrian Lovney of AP+ says the innovation combines ease and security for consumers with real savings for merchants.