Swiss banks and retailers to launch joint mobile payments solution

Credit Suisse
IN TALKS: Five Swiss banks are working together on a joint mobile payments platform

The five largest banks in Switzerland are in talks with financial infrastructure operator SIX and retail giants Coop and Migros over the launch of a common solution for mobile payments “across all channels” that can be “rapidly spread” across the country.

The Credit Suisse, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, UBS and ZKB banks will work with SIX and the participating retailers to develop a joint platform that could be used by all customers as well as “other market participants”.

The agreement follows SIX’s launch in March 2016 of the Paymit mobile payment service, which lets shoppers in the country make in-store mobile payments by scanning a QR code at the point of sale.

PostFinance also launched its own QR code based mobile payment solution called Twint in 2015, enabling consumers to make mobile payments to merchants who have downloaded the Twint merchant app.

Consumer interest

“The recently launched mobile payment solutions from PostFinance and SIX are of great interest among the consumers, the trade and the banks encountered,” the companies say.

“Both solutions facilitate the digital payments via smartphones in Switzerland but both solutions differ in their uses and their technological backgrounds. The developments of the two solutions go unchanged. New features of Twint and Paymit are independent of the progress of the discussions launched as planned.”

Details of what technology will be used to power the common mobile payment service have not been disclosed. More details are due to be released in May.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions

3 comments on this article

  1. Any organization that brings a barcode solution is galloping into the future facing the wrong direction in the saddle…

    In Switzerland, the banking cartel is/will be desperately trying to hinder new entrants like Apple Pay.

  2. I might note, that Migros, Coop, and many others (on various pmnt systems including sixt) will accept Apple Pay via cards issued by Apple Pay participating foreign banks.

Comments are closed.