Payconiq

Last updated
Payconiq
Industry Financial services
Founded2015
Founder ING Group
Headquarters Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Key people
Stijn Van Brussel (CEO)
Products Mobile applications
Owner
  • EPI (2023–present)
Website payconiq.com

PayconiqInternational S.A. is a Luxembourg-based company developing a mobile payment and payment processing platform, active in Luxembourg and Belgium. Since October 2023, it has been controlled by The European Payments Initiative (EPI). [1]

Contents

Payconiq had the initial support of ING Bank, which was joined later by Belgian banks KBC Bank and Belfius, [2] and launched its first minimum-viable product in Belgium, in 2015. [3] The company discontinued its services in the Netherlands on 1 January 2022. [4]

The less complete mobile app is today a more fleshed-out platform offering multi-country payment solutions in Benelux, through different types of integration: stand-alone apps, bank app integrations and more. [5]

Luxembourg

Payconiq International established its headquarters in Luxembourg through the acquisition of the Luxembourgish fintech startup Digicash Payments, in 2017. [6]

In 2019, the company received its Payment Initiation Service license from the Luxembourgish regulator CSSF [7] and some extra financing from its shareholders, amounting to EUR 20 million. [8]

In 2020, the five Digicash apps were rebranded to Digicash by Payconiq, [5] as the company made all its mobile solutions in the Benelux area interoperable. [5] In 2021, the Digicash merchants have started migrating to the Payconiq platform. [5]

Belgium

Payconiq Belgium and the Belgian payment system Bancontact  [ fr ] announced in March 2018 their intention to merge. [9] [10] [11] The merger was finalized in July 2018 and the company is currently named Bancontact Payconiq Company. [12] The new company got a capital injection of €17,6 million from its five major shareholders Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC and AXA. [13] It then also merged its two existing payment apps called 'Payconiq' and 'Bancontact' into one app called 'Payconiq by Bancontact' which was supported by 20 Belgian banks and 290.000 stores in Belgium. [11] [14]

In 2019, the Payconiq payment solution was integrated in KBC's mobile bank app, [15] followed by ING Belgium, in 2020. [16]

The Netherlands

Payconiq Netherlands was established in 2018, when the Payconiq mobile payment app was launched into the market, [17] having shareholders in the main Dutch banks: ASN Bank, ING, Rabobank, Regiobank and SNS. [18] The service was discontinued on 1 January 2022 due to supporting banks choosing to focus their efforts on the competing IDEAL service. [19]

System

The Payconiq platform connects banks, merchants, payment service providers and consumers, to enable Omni-channel payments online, in store, by invoice or peer-to-peer. It is an API-based platform, allowing for a fast connection and value-added services. [20]

Consumers can download one of the stand-alone apps or use the Payconiq integration in their mobile banking apps (where available), according to their country of residence. They connect their bank account to the app and then are able to make payments to affiliated merchants by scanning a QR-code, or to friends (by e-mail address or cellphone number). [3]

Acquisition by EPI

On 31 October 2023 the European Payments Initiative announced the closure of the acquisition of Payconiq International, as well as the dutch payment system Currence iDEAL, in line with its strategy of delivering a unified instant payment scheme for Europe.

EPI’s payment solution, empowered by Payconiq and iDEAL’s expertise, will incorporate a comprehensive range of use cases: person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-professional (P2Pro) payments, followed by online and mobile shopping payments and then point-of-sale payments. A wide range of transaction types will be supported, including one-off payments, subscriptions, installments, payments upon delivery and reservations.

Additionally, value-added services will be incorporated into the solution over time, including responsible ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) financing, digital identity features and integration of merchant loyalty programmes.

The deployment of the new digital wallet by EPI, Wero, is scheduled for 2024 in France, Germany and Belgium, followed by the Netherland and other European countries at a later stage.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ING Group</span> Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation

The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset management, and insurance services. With total assets of US$967.8 billion, it is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the largest banks globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proximus Group</span> Belgian telecommunication company

The Proximus Group is a provider of digital services and communication solutions operating in Belgium and international markets. In Belgium, the company offers its main products and services under the brands Proximus, Scarlet, and Mobile Vikings. The Group also operates in Luxembourg as Proximus Luxembourg SA, with the brandsTango and Telindus Luxembourg, and in the Netherlands as Telindus Netherlands. Internationally, activities are carried out by BICS and Telesign. Proximus Accelerators is the ecosystem of IT partners Be-Mobile, ClearMedia, Codit, Davinsi Labs, Proximus Spearit and Telindus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBC Group</span> Belgian bank

KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank (KB), the cooperative CERA Bank, ABB Insurance, and Fidelitas Insurance. The acronym KBC refers to KredietBank and CERA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipknip</span> Defunct Dutch stored-value payment card

Chipknip was a stored-value payment card system used in the Netherlands. Based on the Belgian Proton system, it was started by Interpay on 26 October 1995, as a pilot project in the city of Arnhem and a year later rolled out countrywide. Chipknip was taken over by Currence due to a restructuring on 17 May 2005, who managed it with their licensees until its discontinuation on 1 January 2015. The Chipknip was primarily used for small retail transactions, as the card could contain a maximum value of 500 euros. The money needed to be transferred from a card holders main bank account using a loading station which were generally located next to ATMs.

A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet or mobile wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can include purchasing items either online or at the point of sale in a brick and mortar store, using either mobile payment or using a laptop or other personal computer. Money can be deposited in the digital wallet prior to any transactions or, in other cases, an individual's bank account can be linked to the digital wallet. Users might also have their driver's license, health card, loyalty card(s) and other ID documents stored within the wallet. The credentials can be passed to a merchant's terminal wirelessly via near field communication (NFC).

Moneris is a Canadian financial technology company that specializes in payment processing.

Ingenico is a French merchant services technology company, that facilitates secure electronic transactions. The company expanded as a manufacturer of point of sale (POS) payment terminals to also include complete merchant payment SaaS and related services.

paysafecard is part of Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) (PSFE.WS), a global payments platform. Paysafecard is a prepaid cash-based, online payment method based on vouchers with a 16-digit PIN code. The vouchers can be used to fund online transactions without a bank account, credit card, or other personal information.

Rabo Mobiel was a Dutch Mobile virtual network operator. It was launched on 15 November 2006 into a market where 50 virtual network operators were active at the time. Rabo Mobiel runs in cooperation with mother company Rabobank Nederland, offering on postpaid and prepaid mobile telecommunications services, and other mobile banking and payment services.

iDEAL Dutch e-commerce payment system

iDEAL is an e-commerce payment system used for online banking in the Netherlands. Previously controlled by the Dutch e-commerce organization Currence since 2006, the company became owned by the European Payments Initiative (EPI) from October 2023.

Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service owned by Amazon. Launched in 2007, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon.com and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites. As of March 2021, the service became available in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortumo</span> Company based in Estonia

Fortumo was an Estonian company which developed a platform for digital service providers for user growth and monetization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfius</span> Belgian banking chain

Belfius Bank and Insurance, known as Dexia Bank Belgium until 1 March 2012, is a Belgian state-owned bank that emerged from the dismantling of the Dexia group which had been purchased by the Belgian government on 10 October 2011 for 4 billion euros.

YooMoney branded as ЮMoney, formerly known as Yandex.Money, is Russia's second largest electronic payment service after "Sberbank Online" according to a 2020 research by Mediascope. It is an online payment service that works with two types of clients — individual users and merchants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worldline SA</span> French financial services company

Worldline SA is a French multinational payment and transactional services company founded in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIA S.p.A.</span>

SIA S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the area of ICT, providing services to the banking and finance sector in addition to platforms for financial markets and e-payment services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bancontact Payconiq Company</span> Belgian financial services company (e. 2018)

Bancontact Payconiq Company was formed following the merger of Bancontact Company and Payconiq Belgium. The company is the Belgian market leader in financial services. Company headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Payments Initiative</span> Pan-European payment system

The European Payments Initiative (EPI), previously known as the Pan-European Payments System Initiative (PEPSI), is a European Central Bank-backed payment-integration initiative aiming to create a pan-European payment system and interbank network to rival Mastercard and Visa, and eventually replace national European payment schemes such as France's Carte Bancaire and Germany's Girocard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blik</span> Mobile payment system

Blik is a payment system in Poland that allows users to make instant payments and withdraw cash using only the user's standard mobile banking app.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joom</span> Latvian e-commerce marketplace

Joom is a Latvian group of e-commerce and fintech companies founded in June 2016. It also has offices in China, Hong Kong, the United States, Germany, and Luxembourg. At the end of 2022, Joom moved headquarters from Riga to Lisbon, Portugal. Joom currently includes five different businesses.

References

  1. "EPI successfully completes acquisition of iDEAL and Payconiq International". Payconiq. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  2. Dendooven, Pascal. "Banken slaan handen in elkaar voor betalen via smartphone". De Standaard (in Flemish). Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  3. 1 2 "Dutch banks to launch all-in-one app Payconiq". Ecommerce News. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  4. "Grootbanken staken Payconiq om vernieuwd iDeal de ruimte te geven". Het Financieele Dagblad. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  5. 1 2 3 4 wordpressadmin (2020-11-26). "Digicash and Payconiq users now able to pay mobile in Benelux". Payconiq. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  6. "Digicash: Belgian Payconiq to buy Luxembourg's Digicash". Wort.lu. 2017-08-01. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  7. "Payconiq receives the first Payment Initiation Service license in Luxembourg". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  8. wordpressadmin (2019-07-25). "Payconiq raises 20 million euros in capital for further development". Payconiq. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  9. "Bancontact and Payconiq Belgium to merge". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  10. "Payconiq to merge with Bancontact in Belgium". Finextra Research. 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  11. 1 2 "Belgian payment firms Payconiq and Bancontact to merge operations". Electronic Payments International. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  12. "Payconiq and Bancontact become one joint app". tech2.org. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  13. "Bancontact tankt 15 miljoen euro extra kapitaal bij". De Tijd (in Dutch). 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  14. "Bancontact en Payconiq samen in één app". De Tijd (in Dutch). 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  15. "Payconiq integrated in KBC/CBC Mobile now as well. | Payconiq by Bancontact". www.payconiq.be. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  16. "ING integreert Payconiq in hun applicatie | Payconiq by Bancontact". www.payconiq.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  17. "Nederlandse winkels kiezen voor mobiel betalen van Payconiq". Payconiq NL (in Dutch). 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  18. ING.com (2017-04-20). "Banks join forces for Dutch launch of Payconiq". ING.com. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  19. "Grootbanken staken Payconiq om vernieuwd iDeal de ruimte te geven". Het Financieele Dagblad. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  20. "Payconiq | Company Database | ThePaypers". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-19.