Australia’s debit card system, eftpos, is continuing its rollout of secure online payments options at a pace, today announcing the certification of local fraud and risk management company GPayments’ 3D Secure Server solution, ActiveServer. 

GPayments’ ActiveServer is now certified with eftpos Secure and can potentially make the eftpos-enabled two factor authentication security service available to hundreds of Australian merchants, gateways and acquirers, including some leading Australian supermarkets over the coming months. 

eftpos CEO Stephen Benton said eftpos’ online security capability is crucial to the evolution of Australia’s post-COVID digital payments ecosystem, in order to drive competition and bring to life features designed to keep Australians safe in the Digital Economy.

Mr Benton said GPayments’ ActiveServer was  certified for eftpos Secure, and eftpos’ security kit bag now included two factor authentication (3DS), tokenisation, automated Disputes and Chargebacks, a digital identity solution, connectID, and a new AI fraud detection engine.

eftpos’ continuing online rollout follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision in October that Australian banks are expected to offer and promote Least Cost Routing (LCR) for ‘tap -and-go’ transactions by the end of 2022.

Mr Benton said eftpos’ extension further into online payments will quickly drive much needed large-scale competition and should place downward pressure on transaction costs.

“Our suite of world class eCommerce products and services is part of a $100m eftpos funded digital upgrade to deliver the next generation of secure payments technology,” Mr Benton said.  “In some retail sectors, online shopping is becoming the new norm, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes fraud prevention and detection all the more important for Australian consumers and merchants transacting in the digital economy. We need to provide the very best protections we can to keep people safe.

For online transactions eftpos is already available for some Card On File payments where banks have implemented the service for their merchant customers, and Deposits and Withdrawal payments via the Beem It mobile wallet.  The rollout of eftpos online is now accelerating and will become broadly available by the end of the year.

GPayments’ ActiveServer enables merchants to take advantage of key liability shift and avoid chargebacks by placing the responsibility for cardholder authentication with issuers. 

GPayments CEO and Founder Bahram Boutorabi said GPayments’ was very pleased to be connecting with eftpos, a fellow Australian company, on fraud risk management solutions that help safeguard the payment ecosystem end-to-end. 

“This is a great way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our company by achieving eftpos Secure certification to support local industry in Australia,” Mr Boutorabi said.

An Australian auction company, Lloyds Auctions is carrying the baton for the private sector, by supplying over 400,000 highly sensitive bulk cheap Rapid Antigen Tests to Australian businesses as one of the Nation’s cheapest tests available for only $8 each.

“Aussie businesses have been left with only breadcrumbs to survive on during this pandemic, so we are choosing to help support struggling businesses by providing bulk quantities of Rapid Antigen Tests for only $8 each with no limits.” said Mr. Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions.

“As Josh Frydenberg commented today, it is time for the private sector to take the baton and continue to run hard,” stated Mr. Hames.

The 400,000 tests available are known as Cellife, one of the highest quality RAT tests on the market and available for distribution now.

“It should be recognised that not only have individuals been struggling to get these tests but both small and large Australian businesses, these are the people keeping our economy going and they are struggling to continue trading without having these Rapid Antigen Tests on hand.” said Mr. Hames.

“For this reason, we want to guarantee a supply to as many Australian businesses as possible allowing them to specify the quantity they need,” continued Mr. Hames.

Lloyds Auctions are known for their contribution towards the community where back in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, they were fortunate to receive thousands of bottles of sanitiser when Australia had next to nothing available. The team came together to give these sanitisers away to the community and have come into a similar circumstance yet again with these Rapid Antigen Tests.

“Like many Australian businesses struggling to trade during the pandemic we actually put a call out to our Lloyds family desperately asking for goods to sell on our site and someone replied saying they had hundreds of thousands of Rapid Antigen Tests for sale,” said Mr. Hames.

“Again, our team purchased tens of thousands of those which we gave away for free to individuals in need,” he continued.

“The response so far has been overwhelming both physically and emotionally for our team who are passionate about helping people who are really struggling to find or afford these tests, but it is very rewarding, and people are extremely grateful,” continued Mr. Hames.

People can head to the Lloyds Auctions website at www.lloydsauctions.com.au to purchase the Rapid Antigen Tests or contact family@lloydsauctions.com.au or call 1800 456 588 for a custom quantity of Rapid Antigen Tests for delivery until supply runs out.

In its most significant new product launch for some time, D-Link has kicked off 2022 by unveiling its all-new R15 EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Smart Router, M15-2PK and M15-3PK EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh Systems and E15 AX1500 Mesh Range Extender. The powerful new EAGLE PRO AI series combines the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology with artificial intelligence (AI) to offer incredible Wi-Fi coverage and speed – delivering a continuously optimising and improving network, ideal for home users and small offices.

D-Link A/NZ MD, Graeme Reardon said, “The EAGLE PRO AI Series is particularly significant as it is the first series to offer a complete range of products that not only integrate the latest in Wi-Fi 6 technology with artificial intelligence to offer incredible Wi-Fi coverage and speed, but have been specifically designed to do so together, from the ground up. This means users get the most seamless, powerful, efficient and easy to use Wi-Fi experience possible.”

The R15 EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Smart Router offers dual-band wireless speeds of up to 1,500 Mbps, delivering blazing-fast Wi-Fi with increased range and reliability and Wi-Fi coverage of up to 230 square metres. This allows Wi-Fi to be experienced like never before and offers a perfect solution for those who require stable Wi-Fi with minimal interference. 

Bringing Wi-Fi 6 technology and AI into one place, the R15 offers 1024 QAM, MU-MIMO and OFDMA to boost speed, range, and network efficiency. The built-in AI Wi-Fi Optimiser continuously scans for the Wi-Fi channels with the least interference to always offer the best connection.

At the same time, the AI Traffic Optimiser prioritises the most critical Internet usage for optimal online experience and stability. AI Parental Control offers users flexibility and control over children’s online activities ensuring their safety is always prioritised. 

The new router is easy to set up and manage and you can even create an extended mesh Wi-Fi with the E15 EAGLE PRO AI Mesh Extender or the M15-2PK and M15-3PK Mesh Systems. It also features the AI Mesh Optimiser, which strengthens the connection between mesh nodes with unique AI beamforming technology, to deliver seamless and reliable Wi-Fi. 

Managing your Wi-Fi has never been easier with the integrated AI Assistant which continuously reviews the network and monitors data usage, sending recommendations and weekly reports to the EAGLE PRO AI app.

D-Link’s new M15-2PK two-pack and M15-3PK three pack EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh Systems and E15 AX1500 Mesh Range Extender again offer incredible Wi-Fi 6 coverage and speed, similarly and continuously optimised and improved like the R15 through artificial intelligence and faultless connectivity.

The EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 M15-2PK and M15-3PK Mesh Systems are designed to offer seamless Wi-Fi coverage of up to 370 square metres and 500 square metres respectively, with the option to expand to a maximum of four units. Again, the AI Mesh Optimiser establishes the strongest link between them to give you a robust mesh network across your entire home.

The E15 EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh Range Extender allows you to extend your Wi-Fi to where it is needed most to experience next-generation Wi-Fi. When combined with an existing EAGLE PRO AI Smart Router or Mesh System it fully utilises all the AI functionality to once again create an intelligent Mesh Wi-Fi network that is continuously optimising and improving. At the same time, the integrated Gigabit Ethernet port allows you to easily connect a wired device such as a Smart TV to your Wi-Fi network.

Similarly, the built-in AI Assistant automatically reviews the network, sending recommendations and reports, accessible through the EAGLE PRO AI app or the device web configuration page, while WPA3 support means your Wi-Fi network is protected by the latest in wireless encryption technology.

What’s more, the EAGLE PRO AI Series is compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, allowing users to use voice control to easily manage their network in the most convenient way.

The EAGLE PRO AI Series is available now from www.dlink.com.au and from all authorised D-Link partners and retailers at the following RRP:

R15 Eagle PRO AI AX1500 Smart Router – AUD$199.95

M15-2PK EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh System (2-Pack) – AUD$279.95

M15-3PK EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh System (3-Pack) – AUD$379.95

E15 EAGLE PRO AI AX1500 Mesh Range Extender – AUD$179.95

Read Small Business Answers guide to setting up a Wi-Fi network

iCT Group and Jeeves.Plus partnership solves multi-lingual customer service challenges for Australian businesses and government.

With only 6% of Australia’s top 50 customer-facing companies having multilingual capabilities, finally a solution. Privately held Australian company, iCT Group has partnered with Jeeves.Plus, an Australian Start-Up, to address challenges faced by companies and all levels of government dealing with customers whose first language may not be English.

The Jeeves.Plus Customer Service Platform harnesses all forms of messaging from Facebook Messenger to WhatsApp and streamlines communication from these applications into a single user interface. It translates all inbound and outbound messaging into the user’s choice of 109 languages along the way.

David Hayes, CEO of Jeeves.Plus, notes that “the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to stay connected to our customers.”

“While we are compelled to keep distance from each other, many businesses have seen a massive increase in online traffic and phone, email or messaging queries”. 

“Similarly, Australia’s recent bushfire and flood disasters have shown a similar need for disseminating urgent information that can be understood clearly by all members of our community”.

“Covid has highlighted that this is an ideal time to partner with iCT Group. We can bring our technology to businesses across Australia who are struggling to handle the volume and urgency of these inbound requests, or maybe lacking the capacity to take advantage of the sales opportunities they present.”

iCT Group CEO Emile Nader and his team tested the waters with their clients and has had an immediate take-up of the technology with a major property group. 

“If there is one country on earth that embraces multiculturalism, it’s Australia. As a linguistically diverse society, we know that various communities comprise of people who are not yet fully proficient in the English language”, Emile said. 

“For this reason, we partnered with Jeeves.Plus to provide intelligent texting and messaging that can take an English phrase (or announcement) and instantly convert it into one of 109 languages. This makes it ideal for sales and marketing organisations as well as urgent government, medical, or safety alerts via text to reach one client, or warn an entire suburb. Nothing is better than a message that arrives in one’s preferred mother-tongue.” 

This is where the true power of messaging lies. Businesses or government organisations can message their databases directly, in any of 109 languages, achieving 98% open rates – a number unseen in email campaigns.

With a platform enabling multiple real-time multilingual conversations between customers and support staff, customer service anywhere can be radically changed to improve customer satisfaction and reduce stress on staff. 

For more information on multi-lingual customer service , contact iCT Group at:
Jason Rowland, General Manager, Jason.Rowland@ictgroup.com.au
Video Explainer –https://youtu.be/qhGLBy5m2uc