BB Merchant Services (BBMS), one of the world’s leading independent payments consultancies, has formally entered the Australian market at what its founders describe as a moment of near-perfect timing — and with its main global competitor having already vacated the field.

When the RBA’s ban on card payment surcharging takes effect in July, companies that have long passed processing costs to customers will be forced to absorb them — a severe hit to margins in hospitality, retail and tourism already running on thin returns.

“Every bank and acquirer calls their fees something different — it’s deliberately designed to make it extremely difficult to compare apples with apples,” Neil Fillbrook, co-owner and Group CEO of BBMS said. “It’s in the banks’ interest to make pricing opaque. Our job is to unpick that, on behalf of the client.”

Founded in 2008, BBMS has since completed more than 3000 client projects which have delivered in excess of AUD1bn in cost savings for clients across Europe, UK, the United States and Asia. Its proposition is simple - most businesses are substantially overpaying for their payment processing, and almost none of them know it.

Fillbrook spent 24 years at HSBC culminating as Global Head of Premier Banking across 42 markets with an £11 billion revenue book, before leaving in 2013 — “the poacher turned gamekeeper,” as he put it — to lead what became BB Merchant Services.

Now majority-owned by three families including Fillbrook, the group chairman and a former CEO, the firm is entirely privately held and operates across the UK, Europe, the US and now Australia.

BBMS’ core offering is a three-stage process.

The audit alone can be startling.

The firm recently found a data-entry error had left one of Britain’s top charities being charged 1,000% above its contracted rate for the entire life of their banking relationship. “When a bank tells us they’ve never offered a price at that level, we can say: hold on — you did it the day before yesterday for that client,” Fillbrook explained. “There’s nowhere to hide.”

Still, more than 80% of BBMS clients do not end up switching providers. The firm’s dominant model, “Stay and Save”, secures materially better terms with their existing banks and payments processors — protecting the core banking and payments relationship that companies are most reluctant to disturb.

The remaining ~20% opt for “Switch and Save”. In either case, the firm reports average recurring savings of 23% and finds genuine opportunity in 95% of assignments. There is no upfront charge. The client keeps the vast bulk of any savings and BBMS takes a third; auditing invoices monthly to ensure providers do not reverse gains. After three years, clients typically migrate to a subscription retainer, Fillbook said.

BBMS has been quietly building its Australian presence for about two years, running initial engagements with mid-sized businesses — around the $60-$150m turnover mark — in retail and the charity sector, with pilots returning substantial savings.

The firm has now appointed Anugrah “Laz” Lazarus, a former senior banking executive with Standard Chartered, NAB, BNZ and AP+, as Australia & APAC MD and Sales Head. Analytical work is supported by back-office hubs in Amsterdam and Cardiff; front-office negotiation is handled locally.

“Almost every CFO or Treasurer we speak to believes they have good pricing from their bank or payment provider. And they often do.” Lazarus said. “But what we’ve found is there exists a significant chasm between good and great pricing — and for large merchants that difference can really add up. Our sole driver is to get our clients from good to great.”

The target market is large consumer-facing local corporates and MNCs across hospitality, retail, airlines & travel, charities, pure ecomm, insurance, Government, etc., all of which have been mainstays of the success BBMS has enjoyed globally.

With a track record of 100% of clients recommending BBMS across seven consecutive customer satisfaction surveys, Fillbrook is unequivocal about the window of opportunity. “The timing is perfect,” he said. “Between now and July is the absolute sweet spot in Australia. Hospitality, tourism, retail — those businesses need to get ahead of the curve and should be auditing their payments costs now, before the surcharging ban lands.”

“There is no downside” Fillbrook said. “if we find no savings, there is no charge. Our experience has been that less than 5% of the businesses we assess have truly best-in-class pricing. The other 95% should at least find out where they stand.”

One of BBMS’s clients, Oxfam, said the firm had helped it navigate some complex payments issues.

“Oxfam has worked with BB Merchant Services (BBMS) on several occasions over the years, most recently this year. We needed their help as our current provider wanted to increase our payments' charges by a substantial amount and so to help protect our donor income, we asked BBMS to help fix this problem for us," OxFam Deputy CFO Sarah Love said.

"We are delighted that BBMS have once again helped to alleviate a cost challenge that we faced, which has allowed us to stay with our existing provider and save a significant six-figure sum (in GBP)."

Another client, Harrods, hired BBMS to review its various merchant services’ agreements to ensure it was getting value for money.

“Their analysis was comprehensive, timely, compelling and served to support our own in-house due diligence and corporate governance,” Harrods CFO John Edgar said. “I would highly recommend their services to other retailers wanting to ensure they too are receiving fair market terms from their current banking providers.”