What is Payday Super?
Payday Super is a legislative reform that requires employers to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions at the same time they pay salary and wages that started on 1 July 2026.
This reform moves superannuation payments away from quarterly cycles, ensuring employees receive their super entitlements more frequently and closer to when their wages are paid.
There are a number of enhancements that introduce pre-checks before payment of contributions, clearer error messages for contributions and supporting faster payment methods.
What impact will Payday Super have on me and my clients?
Class automates and handles these changes end‑to‑end, reducing errors and manual effort.
For most funds, complying with Payday Super will be straightforward with minimal setup or changes required.
Class will progressively roll out support for Payday Super between July and August 2026.
When must super contributions be paid?
- Standard deadline: Super contributions must be received by the fund within 7 business days of payday.
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20‑day extension: A one‑off extended timeframe applies when:
- An employer makes the first contribution for a new employee, or
- An employer pays into a new fund for an existing employee (for example, when an employee changes their fund choice).
What is a Member Verification Request (MVR)?
A Member Verification Request (MVR) is a new pre-check that allows employers, via payroll software, to verify an employee’s super fund details before making the first contribution.
This helps reduce rejected or failed contributions by identifying issues earlier in the process.
When are Member Verification Request (MVR) required?
An MVR is needed when:
- A new employee starts
- An employee changes their super fund
- An employee’s details change (for example, name)
- As corrective action following a rejected contribution
It is not necessary for employers to perform an MVR for any existing employees when Payday Super starts.
How does Class support Payday Super?
Class supports Payday Super by:
- Automatically responding to Member Verification Requests (MVRs)
Class will automatically respond to payroll providers with a Member Verification Outcome Response (MVOR) to confirm whether a member is active as part of a fund to receive contributions. - Improved contribution error messages
Clearer and more detailed error messages help employers understand why a contribution was rejected and how to resolve the issue more quickly. - Recording New Payments Platform (NPP) details
Class allows you to record whether a contribution bank account is NPP‑enabled and to store associated PayIDs, against the bank account if this NPP method is selected. - Supporting NPP for rollovers
While funds must accept NPP for contributions from 1 July 2026, using NPP for Rollovers is optional.
Why are employers getting the error "The SMSF is not certified to receive SuperStream Contributions v3 messages."
The error you are seeing is not related to your fund. It occurs because Class and its third-party gateway provider do not yet support the new SuperStream Contribution Standard (V3), which the superannuation industry is currently transitioning to as part of the Payday Super implementation.
This is a significant industry-wide change, and the ATO has formally established a transition period for all software providers to complete the necessary testing and implementation before fully moving to the new format V3 (refer to Page 8 of the Contributions V3 Conformance Testing and Implementation Guide for timeline details).
Class will support V3 once our third-party gateway provider has completed its conformance testing with the ATO. Until then, all contributions will continue to be processed as normal under the current Contribution Standard (V2). The cutover is anticipated to occur around August, or earlier if testing is completed ahead of schedule.
What is checked as part of MVR and Contributions messages
Class checks the following information for both MVRs and contribution messages:
- The fund is using the Class Electronic Service Address (ESA)
- The fund ABN matches
- The member TFN matches
- Where a TFN is not provided, the member surname and date of birth match
- The surname must be an exact match
What do we/Trustees need to do to support MVR checks?
To ensure Class can automatically respond to MVRs and contribution messages:
- Provide employers with the Class ESA: "smsfdataflow"
- Class will not respond to MVRs if another ESA is used
- Ensure fund and member details in Class are accurate and kept up to date
- Lodge SMSF Annual Returns on time to maintain the fund’s compliance status
- Ensure the SMSF bank account receiving employer contributions is NPP‑enabled
What is the New Payments Platform (NPP)?
The New Payments Platform (NPP) is Australia’s real‑time payments infrastructure.
From 1 July 2026, all superannuation funds must be able to receive contributions via NPP. Using NPP for rollovers will also now be optional.
Do employers have to pay contributions via NPP?
No. Employers can choose how they pay contributions.
If contributions are paid via NPP, a Payment Reference Number (PRN) must still be used so the payment can be matched to the SuperStream message.
Do trustees need to do anything to set up NPP?
In most cases, no action is required:
- Around 90% of Australian bank accounts are already NPP‑enabled
- Some foreign banks may not support NPP
- You can check here, which institutions support NPP
If a contribution bank account does not support NPP, trustees will need to set up a new bank account to receive contributions.
Bank accounts that do not receive contributions do no need to support NPP.
What NPP payment options are available?
NPP supports several payment methods:
- Osko – Near real‑time payments, available 24/7, with no setup required
- PayID – A simple identifier (such as an ABN, email address, or mobile number) linked to a bank account
- PayTo – Mainly used by businesses to initiate real‑time payments from a payer’s bank account once consent is provided
How should an SMSF set up PayID?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recommends using one of the following PayID options for a Self‑Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF):
- The fund’s ABN
- An email address
- A combination of the fund’s ABN and email address
What should administrators do to support NPP requirements?
- Confirm the contribution bank account is NPP‑enabled and record this in Class
- Capture PayID details in Class if trustees choose to use PayID as the NPP method