Australian payments giant Eftpos becomes Hedera node operator

Eftpos has joined Hedera’s governing council after the two entities completed a successful micropayments pilot last year.

Australia’s top national debit infrastructure operator, Efptos, has been announced as the newest member of the Hedera Governing Council. 

Alongside becoming the 17th council member, Eftpos will also become Hedera’s first network node operator in Australia. Other council members include Google, IBM, Boeing and Deutsche Telekom.

While electronic funds transfers at point of sale, or EFTPOS, is a type of payments technology used around the world, it’s also the brand of a specific system used for such payments in Australia and New Zealand.

Eftpos’s CEO, Stephen Benton, described its increasing engagement with Hedera as a core component of its digital payments innovation strategy, predicting that crypto-powered micropayments will drive positive disruption across Australia’s economy:

“We are excited to participate in the development of next-generation micropayments technology that has the potential to open up entirely new ways of conducting business for Australian enterprises and enable compelling new experiences for Australian consumers,” he said.

The news follows a successful proof-of-concept last year conducted by Eftpos and Hedera into micropayments, with the initiative piloting frictionless sub-cent transfers using Eftpos’ API and Hedera’s Australian dollar stablecoin. Eftpos Entrepreneur in Residence Rob Allen said:

“By combining the new Eftpos API infrastructure with a consumer wallet-based experience, digital identity, and an AUD-based stablecoin using Hedera’s superfast, secure and low-cost distributed network, the PoC’s objective was demonstrably achieved.”

“Use cases like this simply are not possible on other public blockchains. Along with several partners, we are now exploring a variety of use cases that this combination of technologies enables and the options to commercialize them,” Allen added.

Mance Harmon, Hedera Hashgraph’s co-founder and CEO, predicted that collaboration between Eftpos and the other council members will make “micropayments and other innovative financial models a reality for millions of consumers and billions of IOT devices” in Australia.

Hedera has expanded its Australian presence over the past year, with a government-backed supply chain traceability platform launching on Hedera’s Hashgraph in September 2020.