How Centrepay works

If you register your business to use Centrepay, we’ll send customer’s payments to your business by a secure electronic transfer.

Customers can request Centrepay deductions by:

• using our online services
• calling us on their regular payment line
• visiting a service centre
• contacting your business.

You’ll have access to Centrelink Business Online Services (CBOS) to:

• get deduction and payment reconciliation reports
• add, vary or cancel deductions with customer consent.

Costs for using Centrepay

Centrepay is free to use for Centrelink customers.

Businesses pay a fee of $0.99 per transaction, including GST.

We usually take this fee from the Centrepay payment we make to your business. This fee covers our costs to administer Centrepay. You must not pass this fee on to the customer.

Get customer consent

You must get your customers’ consent for Centrepay. Your business and your staff must understand your Centrepay obligations, including that:

• you must get consent from your customers before starting or changing deductions
• customers can cancel a deduction at any time
• by cancelling a deduction, the customer is taking away their consent for the deduction to continue
• to restart a deduction, you must get new consent from the customer
• you can’t continue to make deductions if someone is no longer your customer
• we’ll let customers know about any deductions set up on their behalf.

Read the Centrepay policy and terms to understand:

• your obligations
• the objective of Centrepay
• our assurance framework
• the agency’s ability to conduct a compliance audit
• our response to non-compliance
• your privacy requirements and how to meet them
• how to submit a complaint or feedback.

You can also:

• find out if your business is eligible to use Centrepay
• see included and excluded goods and services.

For more details about how Centrepay works read the Centrepay procedural guide for businesses.