Commonwealth Bank of Australia is taking on Macquarie in the growing market for rental payment services, rolling out its Smart Real Estate Payments platform to give it access to both tenants and landlords in the $49 billion-a-year sector.

Nearly 30 years after Macquarie launched its DEFT service – originally a card to make rental payments – CBA will next year start the online platform that it says will cut administrative time and make it easier to make, collect and reconcile rental payments.