Photo by AS Photography / Pexels
POLi Payments is quite popular in New Zealand, but while it offers several key advantages, it also has crucial downsides that users should know about. Today, we are collaborating with Sophia Novakivska of DashTickets to provide you with a simple guide on the system and help you decide whether using it is worth it.
What is POLi Payments and what are its advantages?
POLi Payments is a service that enables New Zealanders to pay for various products and services by directly connecting to their internet banking. This means that users can pay without the need for a credit card or any registration process, and merchants will receive an instant receipt. The system can be used to pay for various services and is popular for purchasing air tickets and placing bets on sports.
Another upside of POLi Payments is that it enables users to avoid surcharges by removing middlemen like Visa or Mastercard and allowing direct transfers between merchants and buyers. The speed of transactions is also something to note — POLi enables users to instantly send and receive money, which is crucial in a country with a fairly outdated banking system that currently cannot offer this level of convenience.
Disadvantages of using POLi Payments
While the system is extremely popular in New Zealand, this popularity stems from the country’s issues with its banking system in general. There is a reason POLi Payments’ parent company, Australia Post, closed its Australian branch in 2023. Most local banks have warned their clients against using POLi Payments altogether. Here’s why.
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As Sophia Novakivska of DashTickets explains, POLi Payments essentially requires its users to provide their personal banking information, which is something that any bank in the world forbids users to do due to personal security reasons. While the speed provided by the service is unmatched in New Zealand, other countries already have reliable transfer options that don’t compromise users’ personal banking information.
Several banks, including ANZ and Kiwibank, treat even a single use of POLi Payments as a reason to invalidate their online guarantee. This means that if a customer’s online banking account is compromised, they will be liable for any losses and won’t be able to ask the bank to take any action.
Another issue is that payments made through the system cannot be reversed, and there are no chargeback rules commonly associated with major purchases. POLi Payments is a barebones system that transfers money from one place to another with virtually no layers of protection if the user seeks a refund.
| Pros and cons of POLi Payments | |
| Instant payments | Requires users to provide their personal banking information |
| No surcharges | Can cause several significant issues with banks |
| No need for a credit card | Doesn’t allow for reversing payments |
| Easy to use | Poor customer protection |
While POLi does provide an option for instant payments now, it doesn’t seem like a sustainable long-term solution for the country, according to Sophia Novakivska. The system will become morally outdated when local banks introduce more advanced tools similar to those available in other countries.
However, right now, it is still the only option for accessing quick payments with no surcharges, and deciding whether the risks and issues associated with using it are worth it is up to customers.
