Payments technology and Open Banking leader, Waave is bringing biometric security access to its Pay by Bank payment method, in a first for Australia.

Waave’s Pay by Bank was launched in early 2023 in response to costly merchant fees for businesses which are often passed onto consumers as surcharges or higher prices.

Waave’s Pay by Bank is Australia’s first account-to-account payment method powered by Open Banking and the New Payments Platform (NPP) to give consumers a free, secure and instant payment experience that bypasses card payments – at a fraction of the cost to the merchant.

In addition to existing Open Banking security that includes strict industry data-sharing protocols, Waave users now sign up to the Wallet (via web) upon first use. Within this, Waave has built a multi-factor authentication layer using biometric technology for customers to leverage their device fingerprint or face ID to authenticate themselves before authorising a payment.

Waave co-founder and CEO, Ben Zyl said, “Users of Pay by Bank simply create their Waave Wallet, connect to their desired bank on first use and register their biometrics. Next time they go to pay for something, it will be as simple as scanning their face or fingerprint and then authorising the payment from their account – no entering names, passwords or card numbers, and with far greater security.”

Later this year, users of Pay by Bank will also gain access within the Wallet to Waave’s revamped Insights tool (formerly Wendi), giving them the ability to track their expenses in one place.