Real-time payments will be rolled out to the customers of more than 60 banks following the public launch of the New Payments Platform on Tuesday morning.
The NPP had its genesis in a June 2012 report by the Payment System Board (PSB) as part of the Strategic Review of Innovation in the Payments System.
RBA governor Philip Lowe, whose role also sees him chair the PSB, said the public launch of the NPP "represents the delivery of a major piece of national infrastructure".
NPP Australia was formed by 13 participating institutions in 2014 to build the platform.
Adrian Lovney, chief executive of NPP Australia, marked the public launch by making a donation to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation at 12:01am on Tuesday morning.
The NPP will allow consumers to make near-instant payments using their phone number or email as a unique identifier using a service called PayID, eliminating the need to memorise BSBs and account numbers.
The platform has been developed using SWIFT and the international financial messaging protocol ISO20022. Real-time settlement will be achieved via the RBA's Fast Settlement Service.
BPAY is the first company to build a product on top of the NPP, called Osko.
"We expect that over the next month or so, Australians will be able to transfer money instantly to each other through products like Osko by BPAY," Mr Lovney said.
"The technology and design that underpins [NPP] is world leading and highly scalable, positioning it well to respond to future payments trends and growth."
