The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has officially bought iDeal. Now, starting in 2025, iDeal will be called Wero, following the EPI’s goal to create a uniform standard payment across Europe.
The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is a partnership of banks from several European countries. Why are they buying iDeal? Because they want a clean, consistent method of paying across Europe, reports RTL Nieuws.
What is iDeal?
If you’ve ever bought anything online in the Netherlands or been charged the infamous Tikkie, you’ve seen the iDeal logo pop up somewhere.
It’s a huge e-commerce payment system in the Netherlands, meaning it lets you pay for things online without needing your physical bank card.
READ MORE | What is iDEAL? Your guide to the Dutch online payment system
iDeal is so popular, in fact, that payments made with iDeal in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands account for more than half of all non-cash payments in countries that use the Euro.
Goodbye iDeal, hello Wero
The EPI essentially wants a consistent payment method for all non-cash payments across the continent.
That means a new digital wallet (like Apple Pay) and a new Europe-wide payment system.
🔊 We are thrilled to share some exciting news❗️
🎯 @company_epi finalised the acquisition of the Dutch payment solution @CurrenceNL #iDEAL and the Luxembourg technology provider @Payconiq
👉🏽 Read the press release here⤵️https://t.co/5V9XK3l4um— European Payments Initiative (@company_epi) October 31, 2023
What’s in it for us? Well, the EPI wants Wero to perform a bunch of different types of services, like monthly subscriptions, paying in instalments, and payment on delivery. That way, everything can be done in one place!
When will the change happen?
For now, iDeal is still going to stick around. The full transition is only expected to happen in 2025, so we still have a full year to say goodbye to the age-old online payment method.
What do you think of this change? Tell us in the comments!
About the usage of iDeal in several European countries: I live in Belgium since many years, and very strongly doubt if iDeal reaches anything close to half of the private non-cash payments. It might be true in the Netherlands, but do you have any trusted references about usage statistics in the other named countries?
> iDeal is so popular, in fact, that payments made with iDeal in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands account for more than half of all non-cash payments in countries that use the Euro.
iDeal is a terrible system. Payments are not reversible, so there is no buyer protection. It is bad news that it is planned to be used more widely. It is all very well when paying your bill in a supermarket or pahying fofr small purchase in a shop. Not so good when transferring larger amounts on-line to legitimate seeming parties that may be very clever scammers.
If iDeal (under its new name) is to become Europe wide, then changes to the law are needed to a) Force payment processing companies to be responsible for transfers to fraudsters and re-imburse anyone that has been scammed or defrauded – then they mihgt take theur fraud detection obligations more seriously b) Force kegitimate companiees to make immediate refunds when they cannot fulfil their side of a contract (rather than having to wait weeks for their refund process to complete).
As for me. I’ll use iDeal for groceries and petrol, but for everything else I’ll be using a credit carad that gives me very good protection.