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Topic: About Us

PayTo ecosystem expands with certification of 12 Cuscal clients

Posted on by Marketing Team

Sydney, 4 October 2022

Cuscal Limited today announced that 12 clients have been approved to offer PayTo services to consumers and businesses, expanding the number of Identified Institutions certified as Payer Participants and Initiating Participants.

Payer Participants enabled by Cuscal
The following clients have been certified by Cuscal as Payer Participants: Bank Australia, BankWAW, Broken Hill Community Credit Union, Credit Union SA, Defence Bank, First Option Bank, Horizon Bank, Laboratories Credit Union, Police & Nurses Limited (P&N Bank, bcu) and RACQ Bank, joining Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Great Southern Bank and People’s Choice that received certification from NPP Australia Limited (NPPA) in September.

Each of these organisations will now make PayTo available within their digital banking channels.

Initiating Participants enabled by Cuscal
Global Payments (eway, ezidebit) and Merchant Warrior have been certified by Cuscal to provide PayTo initiation services to businesses, joining Azupay, Ezypay, Monoova, Paypa Plane and Zai as Initiating Participants.

Commenting on the growing number of participants connected to PayTo through Cuscal, Nathan Churchward, Head of Product, Emerging Services said:

Successful completion of the certification process by such a diverse group of Identified Institutions at the same time is testament to the value of partnership and collaboration when it comes to advancing complex industry programs like PayTo. With over 14 bank and credit union brands and 8 payments service providers now connected to the PayTo ecosystem through Cuscal, we are cementing our position as the undisputed leader in the provision of enterprise NPP services.


About Cuscal
Cuscal was the first participant to be certified by NPPA as both an Initiating Participant and Payer Participant for PayTo. Cuscal facilitated the creation, orchestration, and initiation of the first live PayTo payment on the NPP.

Cuscal’s NPP solution is the only fully compliant solution currently in market delivering all the features of the NPP, with access to all the flows and options for NPP messaging and services, optimising the PayTo and real-time payment experience for customers.

With over 4 years NPP implementation experience, enabling 60+ implementations since 2018, Cuscal has helped more organisations to access the NPP than anyone else, including more than half of all financial institutions and all the payment service providers that are providing their customers with payments on the Platform today.

About the New Payments Platform (NPP)
The NPP enables smarter, faster and simpler payments for businesses and consumers, including PayID and PayTo, a new digital way for merchants and businesses to initiate real-time payments from customers’ bank accounts. PayID is a registered trademark of NPP Australia Limited. Osko is a registered trademark of BPAY Pty Ltd. NPP Australia Limited and BPAY Pty Ltd are part of the of Australian Payments Plus group. For more information visit www.nppa.com.au

Media contact
Simone Perryman, sperryman@cuscal.com.au

Queensland Country Bank partners with Cuscal

Posted on by Rachael Shupe

Queensland Country Bank & Cuscal logos

Sydney, 29 October 2021

We are pleased to announce that Queensland Country Bank has selected Cuscal as their single payment’s services provider.

Queensland Country Bank needed to find a partner who could help them aggregate all their payment service requirements, including Cards, Switching and Payments.

Their key objectives were to simplify their contractual arrangements, streamline operational processing and deliver products and services in a consistent manner across their entire customer base.

With an eye on the future, it was also important to Queensland Country Bank to find a partner who could understand their strategy, and who could demonstrate a clearly articulated roadmap to support it.

Cuscal prides itself on our speed to market and proven track record in enabling first to market solutions (e.g The Pays and NPP). We are also deeply committed to continuing investment in innovation to enable clients in being early adopters of new capabilities such as PayTo services. We are excited to be partnering with Queensland Country Bank to support them in bringing these services to their customers and look forward to a successful partnership – Bianca Bates

 

The teams from Cuscal and Queensland Country Bank have already started working closely together on the transition plan, with a view to have this work completed in 2022.

We are looking forward to a successful partnership with the team at Queensland Country Bank.
END

Bianca Bates is now Chief Client Officer & Deputy CEO

Posted on by Uberbrand

Craig and Bianca in front of Cuscal logo

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Bianca Bates as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Cuscal.

Bianca joined Cuscal in July 2014 as General Counsel and Company Secretary before pivoting her career to pursue more commercial responsibility and deeper relationships with our clients in her role as Chief Client Officer.

Whilst Bianca will continue in her current role, her title will change to Chief Client Officer & Deputy CEO in recognition of her expanded role of being Craig Kennedy’s delegate when he is unavailable.

In addition to leading our Product and Service teams, Bianca will take a more leading role in Cuscal’s engagement with industry bodies, regulators and shareholders.

Commenting on the appointment, Cuscal Managing Director Craig Kennedy said: “From the feedback that I have received from our Board, Shareholders, Clients and Staff over the past six years, I am confident that Bianca will continue to excel in her new expanded capacity as Chief Client Officer and Deputy CEO.

Please join me and our Board of Directors in congratulating Bianca, as she continues to advance her career at Cuscal.”

Bianca has held several senior roles during her time at Cuscal, including Acting General Manager, Product & Service, General Counsel & Company Secretary, Acting General Manager Shared Services and Head of Client Services.

She has over 20 years’ experience in financial services within large public and private US and Australian companies. Prior to Cuscal, she worked in senior legal and compliance company secretariat roles with Genworth, GE Capital and DLA Phillips Fox.

Cuscal is the oldest Fintech in town

Posted on by Rachael Shupe

Picture of Bianca Bates FinTech Australia Podcast Episode 018 with Cuscal’s Chief Client Officer, Bianca Bates and Tier One People’s Dexter Cousins talking about Cuscal and the journey the organisation has taken since the 1960’s. It turns out Cuscal is the oldest Fintech in town!

Cuscal is the largest independent provider of payment solutions in Australia and behind many firsts in Australia, from the first to issue a scheme debit card in 1982, the first to launch Visa Debit PayWave in 2013, the first to enable clients to offer Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay in 2016-2017 to the first to go live with New Payments Platform launching 30 clients on day 1 in 2018. Cuscal’s payment history is impressive.

Bianca also discusses Cuscal’s culture of being client focused and having a strong focus on employee experience.

Cuscal is looking for people who will work as one team, be accountable for their role, product, strategy, are outcome focused and bring energy to make a difference.

Listen to the podcast.

Enabling the future

Posted on by Uberbrand

Our world is evolving faster than ever before. Leading the way are the innovators, the thinkers; those that see potential and seize opportunities.

For over 50 years, we have been helping our clients to transform the old and navigate the new. Our clients include the breadth of the finance industry across all the banks and mutuals, to the neobanks and the latest fintechs.

We partner with our clients to enable their entire payments ecosystem, so they can deliver the best payments experiences for their customers. We deliver this through our expert team, our ability to anticipate market needs, and our deep understanding of the financial payments industry.

Because at Cuscal we have one mission: to enable the future.

As an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI), our extensive capabilities include card and acquiring products, mobile payments, fraud prevention, EFT switching and settlements.

Watch the video about Cuscal, enabling the future.

Cuscal’s payment success journey up to 2018

Posted on by Rachael Shupe


Cuscal and its predecessors have been operating in Australia since the 1960s. Credit Union Services Corporation (Australia) Limited was established in 1997 before being shortened to Cuscal Limited in 2006.

Watch this animation to find out about Cuscal’s payment success journey starting from back in the 1970s up to 2018. Cuscal is now considered to be the largest independent provider of payment solutions in Australia, with the widest range of products and services.

You can also read about Cuscal’s history of innovation in payments.

Cuscal hits female leadership targets

Posted on by Uberbrand

Cuscal's female leadership with MD Craig Kennedy

A gradual increase in the number of senior female appointments in recent years has helped Cuscal to hit its target of 40% of senior leadership roles to be held by women.

In May this year Helen Mediati, Cuscal’s General Counsel and Company Secretary was appointed to Cuscal’s Leadership Team. This followed the appointment of Bianca Bates to the role of Chief Client Officer, earlier the same month. Cuscal’s Managing Director, Craig Kennedy, says it has been a deliberate part of Cuscal’s long-term strategy:

“Cuscal is a payments company which straddles the worlds of technology and banking, both industries which struggle with gender diversity and female leadership.

We knew that having greater gender balance in our leadership would help make us a stronger, fairer, better company, so we have been working towards a goal of greater senior female leadership for a few years now. Three out of seven of my Leadership Team are now women (43%) and this ratio is consistent throughout leadership positions at Cuscal.

We know there’s still some way to go, for example our diversity at Board level isn’t what we would like it to be, but we’re pleased to hit this target and now need to maintain or improve it.”

Cuscal has employed a range of initiatives to improve diversity, female employment and leadership at Cuscal which include:

  • Creating a Women’s Initiative Network three years ago and then a Diversity and Inclusion Council
  • Mandating that recruiters include at least one suitably qualified female applicant for each role
  • Trialling blind resumes in the project and technology division
  • Reviewing our flexibility policies to ensure consistency in application
  • Extending paid paternity leave from one week to four weeks.

As of May 2018, Cuscal’s ratio of male/female employees was:

  • Board: 13% female, 87% male
  • Leadership Team: 43% female, 57% male
  • All employees: 40% female, 60% male

Pictured L to R: Bianca Bates, Craig Kennedy, Helen Mediati, Christie Welsh

Cuscal appoints Bianca Bates as Chief Client Officer

Posted on by Rachael Shupe

Picture of Bianca Bates, the new Chief Client OfficerCuscal has appointed Bianca Bates to the role of Chief Client Officer, as part of Cuscal’s Leadership Team. This role replaces the role of General Manager, Product & Service, which Bianca has been acting in since February 2018.

Commenting on the appointment, Cuscal Managing Director Craig Kennedy said:

The Cuscal Board has confirmed Bianca’s appointment after an extensive search for the right candidate. I’m delighted that Bianca was successful and will continue her career at Cuscal after her success in previous roles over the past four years.

The change in title reflects our commitment to partnering with our clients and delivering a great client experience. Bianca brings significant experience in financial services and our business to this role, including, crucially, a great understanding of the needs of our clients.

Bianca has held a number of senior roles at Cuscal since she joined, including Acting General Manager, Product & Service, General Counsel & Company Secretary, Acting General Manager Shared Services and Head of Client Services. She has over 20 years’ experience in financial services with large and complex US and Australian companies, both public and private. Prior to Cuscal she worked in senior legal and compliance company secretariat roles with Genworth, GE Capital and DLA Phillips Fox.

Cuscal appoints new GM, Product & Service

Posted on by Rachael Shupe

A picture of Robert Bell
Cuscal has appointed Robert Bell as General Manager, Product and Service. He will assume responsibilities on January 9 and will succeed Adrian Lovney who recently left to be CEO for NPP Australia.

Robert joins Cuscal from Big Sky Building Society where he has held the role of CEO for two years.  Prior to that he held multiple senior level roles at ANZ, across Australia and Asia Pacific.

Commenting on the appointment, Craig Kennedy, MD said

“I am delighted that Robert is joining Cuscal – he brings with him both a client perspective, and extensive leadership experience in financial services across Australia and Asia Pacific.”

Cuscal appoints new CIO and GM, Emerging Business

Posted on by Rachael Shupe

A picture of Hemant Kogekar, CIOCuscal CIO, Brian Parker, has taken on a new role as General Manager, Emerging Business. In Brian Parker’s new role his focus will be on exploring emerging business opportunities, and translating these into deliverable opportunities for clients. Brian will also continue to be the executive lead responsible for the successful end-to-end implementation of the NPP for Cuscal and its clients.

Hemant Kogekar has been appointed as Cuscal’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the next 12–18 months. Hemant has worked with Cuscal over the past four years as a consultant and advisor and has over 15 years’ experience as a C-level IT executive in major Australian companies including Suncorp, Citibank and Franklins.

Commenting on the restructure, Cuscal Managing Director, Craig Kennedy said:

“The payments industry is currently seeing rapid innovation including the growth of digital payments, emerging concepts such as blockchain, and the rise of non-traditional players. This means that we are operating in an extraordinarily dynamic environment.

To make sure we remain at the forefront of payments innovation, while continuing to deliver a reliable service to our clients we have decided to create a distinct focus on emerging business opportunities in payments. We are confident this will give the best result for us and our clients.”