The app, presently being trialled by five agencies, aims to make it easier to pay a deposit on the day of the auction.

Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin told The Border Mail although data was still being collected, the Auction Pay app appeared to offer a way for people to access their funds.

“We don’t want cheques in our lives, they’re yesterday’s technology, we now sweep money across using the contemporary technology,” he said.

“We do want to be able to do it efficiently, in a stable environment and cost effectively. I think that the solution, from what I’ve seen of it, is very, very simple and over time will become accepted in the auction market.”

Created by Macquarie Bank, Auction Pay works by an agent logging into the app with a unique identifier number and then entering the property address and sale price. The app then calculates the deposit and prompts the buyer to enter their bank account details, with receipts emailed to the agent and buyer once the transaction is completed.

“Like all of the new things that come in, it takes a little while to get some traction and understanding,” Mr McKibbin said.

“We always have the early adopters and over time it gets recommended throughout the networks and before you know it, it’s up and running right across the board.”