What PayID actually is
PayID is an alias. Instead of sharing a six-digit BSB and a nine-digit account number, you register something people already know, such as a mobile number, an email address, an ABN or ACN, or an organisation ID, and link it to one of your accounts. NAB describes it as a nickname for your account. The payment itself is a fast payment over the New Payments Platform, the real-time system that Australian banks and other institutions plug into.
Three rules explain most of the confusion people have. A PayID can be registered with only one bank and linked to a single account. An account can carry several different PayIDs. And registering a PayID does not open anything new: it is a pointer to an account you already hold, so your balance, statements and limits stay exactly where they were.
The name is what makes the system useful. When someone keys in your PayID, their bank looks it up and displays the name you registered, which lets them confirm the destination before any money leaves. Your BSB, account number and other personal details are not shown to the payer.
The identifiers you can register
Which types you can create depends on your bank and your customer profile. The table below reflects what the major banks describe on their own pages.
Enter a mobile number without the country code when paying. If you hold two mobile numbers, you can register each as a separate PayID, and Westpac notes they can even sit with different banks.
How to set up PayID, step by step
Registration takes a couple of minutes and happens inside your own banking app or internet banking. Only sole or joint account owners can create a PayID. Third-party access holders cannot, and NAB says as much.
- Log in to the app or internet banking of the bank that holds the account you want paid.
- Find the PayID section. Names differ: it is under Profile and PayID settings at CommBank, under PayID settings at Westpac, and in internet banking at NAB.
- Choose the identifier type: mobile, email or, for businesses, ABN.
- Pick the account that should receive the money.
- Confirm the name that payers will see.
- Enter the verification code sent to that mobile or email.
- Wait for the confirmation message or email, then test it with a small payment from a friend.
The bank first checks that the identifier is not already registered somewhere else. If it is, you will be told, and the usual fix is to release it at the other bank or to use a different identifier.
How to set up PayID with CommBank
CommBank offers two routes, and both finish with a NetCode sent to your mobile or email.
In the CommBank app, open your Profile, select PayID from the settings, choose a PayID type, pick the account to link and confirm the name others will see. In NetBank, log on, choose Settings, select PayID under Payment Settings and follow the prompts. A confirmation email arrives afterwards.
Two CommBank details catch people out. First, the mobile number you register must be the primary one on your CommBank customer profile; to use a different number, you have to call the bank first. Second, joint account holders can link their own mobile number to an eligible joint account, so each partner can have a PayID pointing at the same shared account.
CommBank also lets you save someone else's PayID as a payee. Under Pay, tap Pay someone, add a new payee, and choose PayID. That is a payer-side action and creates nothing in your own name.
Other banks, briefly
Westpac customers search for PayID in the app, tap PayID settings and select Register now, or use the PayID entry under Account Services in Online Banking. NAB customers register through Internet Banking, where the bank checks availability before sending a code. ANZ publishes separate walkthroughs for mobile, email and ABN or ACN PayIDs for its business customers. The sequence is similar everywhere: type, account, name, code.
How to pay someone using their PayID
Paying is simpler than registering. You need only the recipient's PayID and a banking app that supports it, which in practice means any major bank.
- Open the payment area of your app. At CommBank this is the Pay tab, then Pay someone; at NAB it is Pay anyone under Transfer and Pay.
- Add a new payee and select PayID as the method, or choose a saved PayID payee.
- Pick the identifier type that matches what you were given. CommBank separates PayID (mobile) from PayID (Email/Other), the latter covering email, ABN or ACN and Organisation ID.
- Enter the PayID exactly as supplied.
- Read the name that appears. If the payee has chosen to show one, a logo may appear as well.
- Enter the amount and a description. CommBank allows up to 280 characters.
- Confirm, and watch for the in-app notification that the payment processed.
Delivery on later payments is usually under a minute. Westpac says a PayID payment should land in less than a minute, and NAB describes sending and receiving as typically real time, within seconds.
The name check is the whole safety feature
CommBank's own instructions tell customers to check the displayed account holder name carefully to make sure they are paying the right person. Do that every time. A mismatch is not a typo to push through. If you were told to pay a plumber and the screen shows an unrelated name, stop and call the plumber on a number you already had.
If you do send money to the wrong person, tell your bank straight away. NAB points customers to its transaction dispute process, and fast payments are hard to reverse once settled, so the name check is far better than the recovery attempt.
First payments, holds and limits
A few bank rules shape how smooth the first transfer feels.
Limits deserve a separate comment. Banks do not publish a single PayID limit. NAB points to a separate guide on daily limits for online payments, which means the cap on a PayID transfer is whatever your own bank applies to pay-anyone payments from that account. Look in the limits section of your app rather than assuming a figure.
Managing, moving and closing a PayID
A PayID is not locked in place. Most banks let you change the account it points to, rename it, lock it temporarily, move it elsewhere or close it.
Westpac says you can change the account a PayID pays into at any time, via PayID settings and Change account to pay, without telling payers. NAB's desktop internet banking lets you update the PayID name, transfer it to another institution, change its linked account, lock or unlock it, or close it.
Switching banks takes a short sequence. Ask the old bank to put the PayID into a transfer state. You then have up to 14 days to register it with the new bank, after which it reverts to the old one. Skip the step and the new bank will say the identifier is already taken.
Life changes matter too. NAB states that if your mobile number or email changes, you must close the PayID. Leaving an old number registered means payments could be aimed at an account you no longer expect, and someone else may eventually be issued that number.
- Update the PayID name if you change your legal or business name.
- Close any PayID tied to a number or email you are abandoning.
- Use the lock function if you are away or suspect misuse.
- Keep at least one PayID that you actually share, so the others stay private.
How to use PayID for online deposits
PayID is also an option at some online merchants and gambling operators, and the mechanics there follow the same pattern as a personal transfer. Whether PayID is offered at all, and for deposits only or for withdrawals too, is set by each operator, so read its cashier page rather than assuming.
The typical flow, where PayID is available, looks like this.
- Choose PayID in the cashier and enter the deposit amount.
- Note the PayID, reference or payment instruction the merchant displays.
- Open your own banking app and start a PayID payment to that identifier.
- Check that the name shown matches the merchant you intended to pay.
- Enter the exact amount and any reference, then confirm.
- Wait for the merchant to recognise the payment, which should follow the speed of the transfer itself.
Two points protect you. Never pay a PayID that arrived by unsolicited message, social post or a chat from someone claiming to be support. And keep the payment details together: a screenshot of the confirmation, the amount and the time stamp makes any later query much quicker for both your bank and the merchant.
The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 restricts operators from offering real-money online casino games to people in Australia, and licensed sports betting and lotteries sit under separate rules. Using PayID does not change a product's legal standing, and a smooth banking process should never be read as a sign of a trustworthy operator.
Choosing which PayID to publish
Because an account can hold several PayIDs, the sensible approach is to treat them like tiers of privacy. Your mobile number is the most convenient identifier and also the one most people already hold for you, so it suits friends and family. An email address works for anyone who would rather not hand out a phone number, such as someone selling items online or invoicing clients. An ABN keeps business receipts apart from personal transfers.
Name display deserves a moment of thought as well. The name attached to a PayID is the one every payer sees, so choose wording that a stranger would recognise and a scammer could not easily mimic. For a business, that usually means the trading name customers expect on an invoice. For a person, it means the name on the account, not a nickname that confuses the payer into doubting the match.
A practical split looks like this:
- Mobile PayID for people who already know you.
- Email PayID for marketplace sales and one-off buyers.
- ABN PayID for invoices and trade customers.
- A locked or closed PayID for anything you no longer want to be reachable.
Joint accounts add a wrinkle. At CommBank each joint holder can link their own mobile to an eligible joint account, while NAB limits creation to sole or joint owners. Agree between yourselves who publishes which identifier, otherwise both of you may end up telling different people to pay the same account under different names.
Receiving money with PayID
Receiving needs no action once the PayID is live. You give the payer your identifier, they enter it in their own app, see your registered name and send the money. It appears in the linked account, usually within seconds when both banks take part in the platform.
A few habits help on this side. Share only the identifier, never your BSB and account number alongside it, since the whole point is that the payer sees less. Check your account balance in your own banking app rather than trusting a screenshot or an emailed receipt, because forged confirmations are a staple of marketplace scams. And if a payer says they sent more than agreed, do not refund the difference until the full amount is visible and cleared in your account.
Businesses can go further. NAB notes that a PayID can also be used to set up PayTo agreements, which let a customer authorise recurring or variable payments from their account to yours. That sits alongside ordinary PayID transfers and is worth asking your bank about if you bill customers regularly.
A quick pre-payment checklist
Run through this list whenever the amount matters. It takes under a minute and catches nearly every costly mistake.
- Did the PayID come from a channel you trust, and not from an unsolicited message?
- Does the displayed name match the person or business you expect to be paid?
- Is the amount right, including cents?
- Is this a first payment to a new payee, and can a delay of up to a day be tolerated?
- Is the payment within your daily limit?
- Have you kept the receipt or confirmation screen?
If any answer is no, pause. A PayID transfer cannot be recalled by pressing a button, and the checking you skip is the checking that scammers rely on.
How PayID compares with the old way
The older method needed a BSB and account number, and mistakes in either digit string could send money astray. PayID adds the name display and uses a number or address you already remember. Compared side by side, the practical differences are small but real.
One everyday benefit is stability. A person who changes banks keeps the same mobile number, so friends and clients can keep paying the same identifier once the PayID is moved, instead of updating a saved BSB and account number. The payer notices nothing except, perhaps, a different logo or name format on screen.
The trade-off is that the identifier must stay under your control. A mobile number that lapses and is reissued, or an email account that is hacked, can undermine the whole arrangement. Protect the phone and inbox attached to a PayID as carefully as the account itself.
Neither route removes the need to verify the recipient. PayID is better at making verification easy, but it cannot judge whether the person you are paying is honest.
PayID scams and how to spot them
Criminals target PayID users because the service is trusted and fast. The pattern banks warn about most often involves online marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay. A fake buyer asks for your PayID and email, then sends a message claiming your account has been upgraded to a business account and that you must pay to fix it or refund a deposit. Another version asks you to open a new account or PayID to complete the sale.
Westpac is blunt about it: PayID is a free service, and anyone who asks you to pay a fee to use it, or to upgrade your account, is running a scam. The warning signs it lists are worth memorising.
- A buyer who rushes the sale or sends a friend to collect.
- An offer to pay above your asking price, or to put down a deposit to take your advert down.
- Pressure to move off the platform to email or text.
- Requests for card details, gift cards, cryptocurrency or international money orders.
- A price far below the market.
Ignore upgrade or fee emails and report the profile to the platform. If you have already paid, call your bank at once using the number on your card, then report the scam to Scamwatch. Banks can act fastest on funds that have not been moved on.
Fixing common PayID problems
Most failures come down to a handful of causes.
If a payment truly fails to arrive, open the transaction in your app first, because the status there tells you whether the bank is holding it, has completed it or has bounced it. Only then contact support.
Habits that keep PayID painless
Keep your contact details current with the bank, because verification codes go there. Save verified payees rather than retyping identifiers. Treat the name check as non-negotiable, and keep a record of every payment you make for a merchant.
