Last year, more than 1.2 billion payments in the Netherlands were fulfilled through iDeal, the popular local payment method. This is an increase of 7.9 percent compared to 2021. The online payment method shows strong growth, despite a decrease of 5 percent in e-commerce purchases within the country.
iDeal was founded in 2005 by a collaboration of Dutch banks called Currence. Since then, it has grown to become the largest online payment method in the Netherlands. It has maintained a market share of 70 percent for years.
Ecommerce iDeal payments decreased 6%
While the payment method shows an overall growth in 2022, the amount of iDeal payments in e-commerce has decreased by 6 percent. Other uses such as payment requests for businesses and consumers, charitable donations and bill payments have grown. A total of 1.233 billion payments were made with iDeal.
‘The figures show how vital the role of iDeal is in Dutch payment transactions.’
“These figures show how vital the role of iDeal is in Dutch payment transactions. That the number of e-commerce purchases via iDeal has declined is in line with the overall trend of declining purchases via e-commerce. This is also evident from the Thuiswinkel Market Monitor by Thuiswinkel.org and Retail Insiders, which we are participating in together with PostNL and the Dutch Payments Association”, says Daniël van Delft, CEO of Currence.
“But in other domains, we continue to grow. Together with the fact that we were able to offer almost 100 percent availability in 2022, it means that iDeal has had a rock-solid year from which users have benefited to the fullest.”
Acquired by the European Payments Initiative
In April, iDeal was acquired by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a collaboration of European banks. Its goal is to roll out a uniform payment solution across all European countries. In the coming period, EPI will explore how iDeal best fits into its strategy to develop a payment standard for the European market.