Home Affairs discloses details of PayPal merchant services deal

Home Affairs has extended a merchant services agreement with PayPal Australia while also now disclosing financial details of the arrangement, seven years after the first deal was struck.

The department published a contract notice for the arrangement on June 28, over seven years into its operation.

Departments and agencies are meant to report contracts and amendments within 42 days of making them.

A Home Affairs spokesperson told iTnews that “the arrangement with PayPal Australia is a cost-neutral arrangement and is not required to be reported on AusTender, however, for transparency, the Department of Home Affairs reported the arrangement on June 28, 2023.”

In follow-up questions, iTnews was unable to get a clear picture of what had led to the decision to disclose details of the arrangement, only that the timing coincided with an amendment being made.

PayPal is one of the options the department provides to pay fees for visas. It also has arrangements with other financial service providers, though these did not show up in a search for “merchant services”.

The contract notice states that Home Affairs has used PayPal for merchant services since June 20, 2016, and that its current agreement expires at the end of June 2025.

“This contract notice reflects the initial arrangement and subsequent contract amendments the Department of Home Affairs entered into with PayPal Australia,” the spokesperson said.

The notice also states a “value” for the contract of $13.2 million, but that this is “cost-neutral”, meaning merchant fees deducted from transactions are recovered through a surcharge paid by customers.

iTnews also sought information on the proportion of online payments to Home Affairs that are processed via Paypal but this data could not be provided – iTnews understands – owing to commercial sensitivities.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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