Challenging the status quo for the customer has been part of Jack Gance’s business philosophy from the start, helping to turn Chemist Warehouse into a household name as one of the nation’s top retail success stories.

As co-founder of the pharmacy giant, this initially meant taking the bold and customer-focused idea of discounting products by 25% and seeing how the model could work financially.

Today, when it comes to payments technologies, Gance is again pointing to a “win-win” opportunity for customers and business, by showcasing a new way to pay straight from your bank account, securely and in real-time instead of using a credit or debit card.

This new NAB solution is called Pay by Bank and uses Australia’s PayTo account-to-account functionality as a seamless, instant payments system, bypassing the high processing fees involved for businesses using traditional methods.

“I’m pretty passionate about being able to give people what they want,” Gance says. “For payments, that means being easy to use, with no friction, offering a low cost of operation for merchants.

“Having more payment options means a better service and ultimately, price, for customers.”

Real-time benefits

Gance was speaking as special guest at a series of flagship NAB Transaction Banking events, held in Sydney and Melbourne for enterprise and government customers, covering the latest payment technologies and future trends in the rapidly evolving space.

In conversation with NAB Executive Transaction Banking, Johan Westh, Gance said he had seen payments improve vastly over the decades, from early technologies like the manual machines used to imprint embossed credit card data on carbon paper with a distinctive “clack clack” to the subsequent electronic point-of-sale terminals.

Today, it’s real-time, account-to-account payments that are the new frontier, as banks and fintechs explore more efficient and secure ways for customers to transact in the data-rich digital realm.

For a discount retailer like Chemist Warehouse, which doesn’t surcharge its customers but must still factor transaction fees into its operations, having a competitive and efficient payment alternative is an attractive proposition.

“As retailers, we really notice the difference,” Gance says. “It’s millions of dollars extra cost that’s unnecessarily paid out on top of the sale price to process the transaction. I think it’s important that we make an incentive for customers, to make this new method available to them, and explain the benefits as providing a better, safer, cheaper method of making payments.”

Real-time PayTo transactions using NAB Pay by Bank are processed within the security of the banking system, giving customers instant access to information on their account balances and more visibility and control over regular bill payments such as those traditionally managed as direct debits.

Image: Johan Westh, left, with Jack Gance at the NAB Transaction Banking insights event in Melbourne. Credit: Lincoln Joy.

After the initial Pay by Bank agreement is set up with a merchant like Chemist Warehouse or other billing organisation, any return purchases can be done through a single-click checkout experience, without the need to remember card, account or reference details.

Chemist Warehouse has also added QR code functionality at the instore checkout to set up and then activate the payment through a customer’s phone camera with a simple point and click technology.

Promoting choice

NAB’s Westh said the Transaction Banking customer events were all part of raising awareness about the dynamic advances happening across the payments landscape today. These include account-to-account services like Pay by Bank (PayTo) and PayID, as well as advances in artificial intelligence used in cash forecasting and liquidity management across treasury services.

“The future is here with Pay by Bank and not just for retail organisations,” Westh said. “The opportunity is really broad and there are use cases for government, insurance companies and others here in the room as well. This service is helping business and helping consumers – it’s making a difference. We’d love to continue the payments conversation with you all.”

Jack Gance[i] started the Chemist Warehouse chain in 2000 with his brother Sam and business partner Mario Verrocchi. The group made its ASX debut earlier this year, trading as Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG), after a merger with the existing pharmaceutical industry operator.

Read more about NAB’s suite of real-time payment solutions.

[i] Mr Jack Gance | Board Member | Sigma Healthcare Limited