POLi Payments

POLi Payments Pty Ltd
Company typePrivate company
IndustryOnline banking
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
ProductsElectronic commerce
ParentAustralia Post
Websitewww.polipayments.com

POLi Payments Pty Ltd (formerly known as Centricom)[1] is an online payments company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is the developer and provider of POLi, an online payment system that is used by merchants and customers in Australia and New Zealand. POLi Payments was acquired by SecurePay Holdings, a fully owned subsidiary of Australia Post, in December 2014.[2]

POLi enables customers to pay for goods or services directly from a merchant's website without the need for a credit card, but by using a direct connection to the user's internet banking. A benefit is that the merchant receives an instant receipt and that customers do not have to register to use POLi.[3] The service is used in Australia and New Zealand with its largest merchants being Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Sportsbet and Sportingbet.

The service has attracted widespread criticism from banks[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and others.[12] The service has also been implicated in enabling payments that could be used for illegal gambling.[13][14]

In 2023, Australia Post announced they would close the Australian arm of POLi Payments in September.[15]

  1. ^ "Centricom Pty, Ltd.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  2. ^ Bailey, Michael (2015). "Ahmed Fahour's letter to ecommerce startups: Australia Post will accelerate you". Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Buy - Pay with confidence from your internet banking". Retrieved 26 October 2016.
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  12. ^ "POLi Payments: probably the worst idea for online payments, security-wise". 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  13. ^ "How Australia Post banks millions from offshore casinos - The New Daily". 14 April 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Illegal Australian online casino faces investigation - The New Daily". 17 April 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference itnews_poli was invoked but never defined (see the help page).