Mollie challenges Wero with Pay by Bank

Payment provider Mollie is launching Pay by Bank to rival iDeal successor Wero, financial newspaper FD reported.

Driving the news: Next year iDeal will merge into Wero to establish a European payment standard, replacing the primary payment method introduced in the Netherlands in 2005.

The friction: Some Dutch online shops resist joining Wero because it includes buyer protection, similar to Visa and Mastercard. While shoppers appreciate protection against fraud, webshops face complex dispute procedures and higher operational costs.

The details:

• Mollie, which serves 350,000 businesses across Europe, designed Pay by Bank to work much like iDeal currently functions without buyer safeguards.
• The system runs as a white-label solution, allowing each merchant to style the interface without displaying a distinct brand name.
• Shoppers will see little change at checkout, while online stores can keep handling simpler and cheaper.

What to watch: Greater competition among checkout providers could eventually lead to reduced processing rates, although Wero has not yet disclosed what it will charge.

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