Nelson Alexander and Auction Pay: ‘strength in simplicity’.

Melbourne real estate group Nelson Alexander was a ‘traditional business with traditional problems’ and needed a way to continue delivering exceptional real estate services in a modern, digital world. Macquarie Business Banking answered their needs with Auction Pay.

A tool born from strong client relationships

Before Auction Pay was launched in 2017, Nelson Alexander was one of the first agitators for a digital real estate payments solution.

“We are a traditional business with traditional problems,” says CEO, James Keenan. “We had clients wanting to pay deposits with cheques, cash, and bank transfer limits, while the banking industry was digitising for better security and efficiency.”

“We needed our bank to design and build something that allowed us to do what we needed to do, and they delivered.”

A solution was born that became Auction Pay.

Leveraging the Macquarie DEFT payment platform alongside a Macquarie sales trust account, Auction Pay enables a smooth process for buyer, seller and agent. Buyers can securely pay their deposit on the spot, using the agent’s web-enabled device, with the flexibility to adjust their bid and make payments of up to $1 million. For agency teams, Auction Pay simplifies administration and accounting.

“To be more aligned with a piece of technology would be hard,” says Keenan. “It was uniquely adept at solving the problem.”

Efficiency and business growth

Nelson Alexander rolled out Auction Pay across every office and agent in their business and very soon saw its impact.

“We had almost total conversion [to Auction Pay] among the team,” says Keenan. “That just doesn’t happen for us, but it happened with Auction Pay.”

“Money now hits our accounts in a way that we expect it to. It makes everything simpler: simpler for our clients to pay, simpler for our agents to take the payment, and simpler for us to reconcile,” says COO, Jamie Owen.

From an operational perspective, Auction Pay enables a significant reduction in administrative workload compared to taking deposit payments via bank transfer or cheque.

“Auction Pay is single handling, done digitally, at the point of sale, then reconciled on Monday with a reference,” says Owen.

“We’re able to do much more with the same resources. When we started using Auction Pay, we had 11 offices, and one sales trust accountant. In 2025, we have more offices all transacting more volume, with still the one trust accountant. That’s an outstanding efficiency outcome.”

For agents, the benefits are twofold, enabling higher performance and helping them to build a profile in the industry.

“Using Auction Pay is a way for agents to be perceived in the field as a market leader using outstanding technology, provided by one of the most tech-enabled banks in the business,” says Owen. “That is a surefire way for agents to feel good about the work they do. Perception is reality and Auction Pay lifts that perception.”

“Our agents also use it in their qualifying process,” says Keenan. “They will contact potential buyers to explain the Auction Pay deposit process and, through that conversation, they get a feel for who’s serious about buying and who’s not, just by how keen they are to get organised.”

“They have greater insight and greater predictability of engagement on a Saturday, which gives a sensational sense of confidence to the vendor.”

For home buyers, security is key. “There’s a level of privacy that our clients feel better about,” says Keenan. “It’s secure, they can see what’s going on, there’s a trail transaction with email receipting. They feel confident about the process, on a very high pressure day.”

Strength in simplicity.

“I don’t know how I would do business without Auction Pay,” says Keenan. “It's the best product Macquarie Business Banking has made. It’s that trusted, age-worn axe in the shed that we rely on thousands of times a year. The tool that never needs sharpening, never needs replacing. It doesn’t let us down.”

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