AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB said they will launch Zippay that will offer person-to-person mobile payment service in early 2026.
The long-overdue launch of an instant payment app comes after five years of false starts from the pillar banks in trying to come up with its own version of fast payments to stave off the threat from Revolut.
Zippay will be available to more than five million eligible customers of the three retail banks initially.
It will be an in-app service offered through the banks’ existing mobile banking apps and delivered by leading Italian payment technology company Nexi.
Customers will be able to send, request and split payments instantly with Zippay by using the mobile number of their contacts who are also using the service.
There will be no need to enter an IBAN number of the person receiving the payment if they have enabled Zippay on their AIB, Bank of Ireland or PTSB banking app.
The launch has been announced by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland whose chief executive Brian Hayes said the new service will provide a quick and easy way to send and receive money or split bills with friends, family and contacts who are also Zippay users.
“It will be delivered through customers’ existing mobile banking apps and therefore comes with all the same high levels of security, protection and digital safety and avoids the need for topping up a digital wallet or downloading a separate app,” he said.
Mr Hayes said eligible customers will automatically be enrolled to Zippay, which will appear in their personal banking app once the service is launched next year.
It is open to rival bank Avant Money/Bankinter, and the likes of An Post Money and Revolut, to join the Zippay arrangement, Mr Hayes said.
Zippay will use mobile numbers saved in the customer’s contact list to identify who else uses it.
“There will be no need to set up a new payee or know their IBAN, BIC or account numbers, the money will transfer between accounts seamlessly,” Mr Hayes said.
The service will allow customers to send up to €1,000 per day as well as request up to €500 per transaction.
“It will be simple, speedy and secure,” he said.
Nexi, a European pay-tech company and one of the world’s leading payment technology providers, already provides digital payment solutions for some of the Irish banks.
Over the coming weeks, all eligible customers of AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB will receive information on the new service ahead of the rollout next year including details on how to opt out of it.
A dedicated website has also been launched.
The instant payments offering from the banks comes after they were forced to pull the plug on previous plans to launch their own bespoke instant payments app at the end of 2023.
That joint venture initiative was called Synch Payments.
It had been hit by a bombshell in July 2023 when the Central Bank said the planned new service needed to be authorised by it.
Now the three mains banks have bought an instant payments technological solution that will allow them to finally rollout a rival to Revolut and N26 years after these digital banks have hoovered up customers.
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