Dutch iDeal will be in foreign hands, this will change
The Dutch payment service iDEAL is being taken over by the European payment service EPI (European Payment Initiative). This makes iDEAL the basis of a new European payment method. This is reported by the current owner Currence. EPI is also acquiring technology supplier Payconiq.
European digital payment solution
EPI, iDEAL and Payconiq are joining forces through this acquisition and will jointly build a digital wallet from European soil that can compete with global players. You can compare it with Google Pay or Apple Pay. In time, a new name will also be introduced for the European payment service, but that could take years, a Currence spokesperson told NOS.
The new payment system will soon make it possible to transfer money from bank account to bank account free of charge and in a few seconds. In addition, money can also be transferred in the traditional way, via the bank’s app or via a mobile banking app on the smartphone. The first people in France and Germany will be able to use it at the end of this year. In 2024, it will be Belgium, France and Germany’s turn. Only then will other European countries follow.
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EPI is an initiative of fourteen commercial banks and partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank are the shareholders of Currence. ABN AMRO and Rabobank, in addition to ING, will also become shareholders in EPI through this acquisition. It is not known for how much money iDEAL was sold.
iDEAL was launched in 2005 and currently 70% of online purchases in the Netherlands are settled with iDEAL. The system handles 3.5 million transactions every day. Last year, the number of online purchases via smartphone rose from 29 to 33 percent. The chance that you as an Androidworld reader will handle your online orders with iDEAL is therefore very high.
