AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB have resurrected plans to launch an instant mobile payments service and aim to launch Zippay in early 2026 in an effort to take on Revolut.
While the previous attempt, abandoned two years ago, was based around a new app, this project will be integrated into the banks’ existing mobile apps.
Customers will be able to send, request and split payments instantaneously with Zippay by using the mobile numbers of their contacts who are also using the service.
Zippay will be available to more than five million eligible customers of the three retail banks initially, says Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). It will be delivered through the technology of leading European paytech group Nexi, which had previously been lined up to power the original mobile app.
UK fintech Revolut, the most widely used instant payments provider by Irish consumers, currently has more than three million customers in the State.
After the initial launch, Zippay will be offered on a non-discriminatory basis to all financial institutions that provide IBAN account services and a mobile app to Irish consumers, and Nexi said it will manage the integration of eligible financial institutions that wish to join the service. The company is currently in talks with three other firms.
“Eligible customers will automatically be enrolled to Zippay, which will appear in their personal banking app once the service is launched next year,” said BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes, adding that they will have an option to opt out if they wanted to.
“It will use mobile numbers saved in the customer’s contact list to identify who else uses Zippay. 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. 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.”
The country’s main banks previously decided, in 2020, to set up an instant payments mobile app through a joint venture called Synch Payments. However, that project was hit by a series of setbacks and drift – amid issues over clearance from competition and financial regulators and the exit of one of its founding members, KBC Bank Ireland – before the banks decided to call it quits in late 2023.
[ Banks’ instant payment app was doomed when Revolut became a verb in IrelandOpens in new window ]
This current project does not involve a joint venture, but will see Nexi providing the service through the banks’ individual apps, making it a neater solution, according to BPFI officials. However, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), Central Bank and Data Protection Commission have been kept abreast of developments as the banks worked on the latest plan, they said.
The payments landscape has continued to evolve rapidly since the Synch project was dropped, including European banks having to join the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) instant payments system earlier this year. But while Sepa Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) requires use of an IBAN, or 22-character international bank account number, Zippay payments can be made through mobile contacts, making transactions easier, according to BPFI officials.
The hiatus has also has seen improvements in anti-fraud measures in the European payments system, they added.
Over the coming weeks, all eligible customers of AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB will receive information on the new service in advance of the roll-out next year including details on how to opt out if they so choose. Each bank has launched its own dedicated online Zippay information page on which customers can find further details specific to their bank.