“People seem to change address more than their mobile phone numbers, so this seems to me a more reliable means of communication.” But in their attempts to overcome the lost member and surplus accounts problems, funds will encounter opposition from companies profiting from members’ ignorance, he warns. “There will be pushback. Remember that some eligible rollover funds have fees higher than active funds managers. There will be commercial motives at play.” Retro super Sammells related his experience as an employer to illustrate how the experience of paying super contributions takes bosses back to the 1980s. “The only common interface across super funds is a cheque,” he says. “It was easier for me to write 30 different cheques than use six different administrators with six different systems.” It was only after a new payroll-services provider to IQ Business Group liaised with an electronic clearing house that the employer could send contributions electronically.

But the episode gave him an understanding of the plight of employers who sometimes have to deal with “six or seven” payments systems linking with particular funds to pay contributions. “If you want employers – like me – to process contributions more efficiently and without mistakes, it has to be made easier for them to do it.” Reynolds says 38 per cent of employers currently pay contributions by cheque, while 22 per cent use a combination of cheques and electronic funds transfers. If and when funds do roll out employer-friendly payments systems, they should expect a slow migration to these platforms as they become routine to bosses. “This is going to require a huge change in behaviour from employers. For members to benefit, we need penalties for employers who do not use electronic means after a reasonable transition period.”

But before payments systems can be streamlined, Sammells says an agreed standard – such as the one released as far back as 2003 by the SWIM EC (superannuation, wealth, investment management electronic commerce) initiative – need to be mandated. “The industry needs to define standards, set them and then stick to them. Otherwise the ATO will tell us what to do.” And this would be bad news. “The ATO is the big bear. And where does the big bear sit? Wherever he damn well likes.” Grant believed there was little in SuperStream that was not already within the industry’s grasp, and urged funds and administrators to take the lead and standardise administration and payments processes before the government steps in.