By Warwick Ponder, Editor
Updated August 20, 1:30pm.
Apex Group has become one of the first Australian superannuation clearing houses to deploy PayTo, using NAB’s real-time payments capability through its SuperConnector platform.
The PayTo deployment targets one of Payday Super’s biggest operational challenges: getting employer contributions through clearing houses and into members’ super funds within tighter deadlines.
The move comes six weeks after Payday Super commenced on July 1, requiring employers to pay superannuation with wages and generally have contributions reach employees’ super funds within seven business days of payday.
“Congratulations to Apex Group on becoming one of the first clearing houses in Australia to launch PayTo through its SuperConnector platform,” NAB said in a post.
“As the industry prepares for Payday Super, innovations like PayTo can help simplify compliance and modernise the way super contributions are processed.”
The bank said traditional direct debit payments could take three to four days to clear and be passed on to super funds, eating into the seven-business-day window and leaving employers less time to identify and rectify failed or rejected contributions.
“By leveraging PayTo, Apex Group can help reduce payment processing times from 4 days down to 1, providing employers with greater certainty that contributions will reach their destination on time,” NAB said.
The change also replaces elements of the traditional direct debit onboarding process.
NAB said onboarding that previously took up to 48 hours using manual forms, signatures and verification could now be completed in seconds through digital PayTo authorisation.
“This is now a self-serve option for employers, reduces administration, improves efficiency and helps employers get set up and running faster,” the bank said.
PayTo operates across the New Payments Platform and allows businesses to establish digitally authorised agreements for one-off or recurring account-to-account payments.
NAB describes PayTo as the industry replacement for direct debit, with payments processed through the NPP and businesses receiving real-time payment confirmations.
In May NAB Group Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Irvine, said the implementation of a “cloud-based real-time payments engine” was complete.
“In the first half, we completed the migration of all payments to our cloud-based real-time payments engine,” Irvine said at the time. “A modern payments platform has been key to the development of innovative payment solutions, such as Amazon PayTo.”
The Apex deployment gives PayTo another significant business use case beyond its emerging role in ecommerce, bill payments and subscriptions.
Apex Group’s Abigail Sweep said in a post the deployment was “a fantastic milestone and a great example of what can be achieved through genuine partnership and a shared focus on innovation.”
“Reducing payment processing times, digitising employer onboarding and providing greater certainty around contribution timeframes will be increasingly important as the industry prepares for Payday Super,” Sweep said.
“We’re proud to be working with NAB to modernise superannuation payments and deliver faster, simpler and more efficient experiences for employers, funds and, ultimately, their members.”
Apex acquired Iress’ superannuation business last year for $40 million in cash, with potential additional payments of up to $20 million. Iress completed the sale in June 2025 and agreed to continue providing some services for up to 18 months during the transition.
The PayTo launch also adds to NAB’s expanding bet on real-time A2A payments.
In May, NAB acquired UK-founded A2A fintech Banked, which it had previously backed through NAB Ventures and whose technology it had been using for business customers since 2024.
NAB has positioned PayTo and Pay by Bank as part of its broader shift towards real-time payments, alongside PayID Receivables and its Fast Payments API. Its corporate payments offering uses the NPP to support 24/7 account-to-account payments and real-time payment status information.
The superannuation use case could prove particularly important because Payday Super has compressed payment timetables while dramatically increasing contribution frequency.
The reform also closed the Australian Taxation Office’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House on July 1, requiring its former users to move to alternative payment services.
For clearing houses, payroll providers and banks, that puts increased pressure on the payments infrastructure sitting between an employer’s payroll and a worker’s super fund.
NAB said PayTo’s ability to remove several days from that process demonstrated how newer A2A infrastructure could address that pressure.
“It’s great to see leading organisations embracing modern payment technology to create faster, simpler and more efficient experiences for employers, super funds and members,” NAB said.
“We’re proud to support customers like Apex Group as they innovate and prepare for the future of superannuation payments in Australia.”
