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.
It is an online payment method that enables consumers to pay online through their own bank. In addition to online merchants, other organisations that are not part of the e-commerce market also offer iDEAL.
01History
The system was conceived by the Dutch banks ABN Amro, ING Bank, Postbank N.V. and Rabobank, to develop a single system for online payments that could be used by all banks.
The payment platform was opened to consumers in October 2005.
In 2006 the consortium moved the iDEAL brand to the Dutch banking organization Currence. Nine years after claiming to be responsible for 54% of the country's online payments, iDEAL reported having 70% of this market in 2023.
In the same year, the European Payments Initiative acquired iDEAL and Payconiq International, as well as new shareholders, for the upcoming launch of its instant payment solution. iDEAL is to become a European payment account-to-account (A2A) instant payment scheme and a multi-faceted digital wallet.
EPI will initially enable person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-professional (P2Pro) payments, followed by online and mobile shopping payments and then point-of-sale payments. A comprehensive 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.
Wero
The European Payments Initiative (EPI) announced in 2023 that iDEAL will be replaced by its Wero payment service. Wero is launched in Germany, France and Belgium in mid-2024 as a P2P payment solution, but the service will offer e-commerce/m-commerce payments from mid-2025. In October 2025, EPI presented a phased migration plan from iDEAL into Wero, that would span from early 2026 until the end of 2027. Unlike iDEAL, Wero is usable exclusively through Google or Apple's ecosystem.
02Transaction statistics
The number of transfers processed:
| Year | Transactions |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 4.4 million |
| 2007 | 14.9 million |
| 2008 | 27.8 million |
| 2009 | 45.4 million |
| 2010 | 68.8 million |
| 2011 | 93.9 million |
| 2012 | 117.2 million |
| 2013 | 142.5 million |
| 2014 | 180.2 million |
| 2015 | 222.0 million |
| 2016 | 282.6 million |
| 2017 | 378.1 million |
| 2018 | 523.8 million |
| 2019 | 666.9 million |
| 2020 | 890.3 million |
| 2021 | 1.14 billion |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “IDEAL”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- IDEAL Logo 2020.svg by Unknown author, Fair use
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