REST Superannuation is the latest super fund to agree to use the IFF Rollovers Hub, which will enable it to process and complete rollover payments electronically.
The move is in keeping with the SuperStream recommendation contained in the recent Cooper review of the Australian superannuation system.
"We welcome the intent behind the SuperStream initiative to improve back-office processes in superannuation, and see the opportunity to implement e-commerce initiatives now. The financial savings will ultimately be passed on to our members," REST chief executive Damian Hill said.
The initiative will allow members' funds to be reinvested at a faster pace and will also allow REST to save on back-office processing expenses.
Specifically, adopting the IFF Hub technology will allow rollovers and contributions to be processed in under three days on average, will reduce the need for manually processing cheques, and reduce manual information collection with the introduction of standard data fields and forms.
REST joins Sunsuper and StateWide, which adopted the electronic system in August to process rollovers between each other, as users of the IFF Rollovers Hub.
In response to the REST announcement, Sunsuper general manager Francis Cox said: "Sunsuper is thrilled to have such a major rollover partner as REST live on the system. It provides a real cost reduction, better visibility and less uninvested time for transitioning members."
The IFF Hub is facilitated by the CUSCAL-backed ClickSuper system that incorporates technology from Payment Adviser.
Paying superannuation rollovers electronically so far has been limited to payments between participating funds, but plans are underway to allow electronic payments to be made to any super funds under the regulatory control of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority as well as self-managed superannuation funds.
