CBA introduces Everyday Settlement payment service

Business clients will be able to access funds from their Commonwealth Bank of Australia merchant terminals the same day following the rollout of a new service called Day in day out Settlement.

CBA business products and development executive general manager, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, said in a statement that the bank will be the only one of the big four, which includes ANZ Banking Group, Westpac and the National Australia Bank, to offer the service. Up to 100,000 business clients would be migrated to Day in day out Settlement by December 2011 with the rest shifted across while the first quarter of 2012.

Rosmarin as well said that not being able to settle accounts every day of the week was a frustration for many small businesses.

"Combined with our core banking research, businesses can as well get real-time access to those settled funds, including the ability to accrue value for them over the weekend," she said.

"With no weekend cash flow gaps, merchants will be able transfer cash around their business with far greater speed, making it easier to pay both staff and suppliers."

She added that businesses would as well benefit from an easier daily reconciliation process, with transactions for weekends and public holidays no longer lumped at the same time in a single day at the beginning of the following week.

The launch of the new service follows CBA's development of a banking application called Kaching for the Apple iPhone that allows users to wirelessly pay for goods and services using Nearly Field Communications innovation.