Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and KBC Ireland are planning to launch a mobile payments service known as Yippay “to rival disruptors such as Revolut”, according to the Irish Independent.
The four banks filed an application with Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for a joint venture called Synch Payments to create the new service last month.
The CCPC application states that Synch Payments will create “a new industry wide open payment service in the State that can be used, subject to the joint venture licensing terms, by all financial institutions (including consortia of smaller financial institutions) that issue euro-denominated IBANs to Irish customers”.
The move follows “the rejection in January of an initial application by Synch Payments after it failed to provide the competition watchdog with sufficient information regarding the planned venture”, the Irish Independent says.
“The competition watchdog is currently undertaking a phase one preliminary investigation into the planned venture.
“The Yippay app is being developed to counter the major competitive threat faced by the traditional banks from digital operators such as Revolut and N26, which have built significant customer bases using slick apps.”
“The Electronic Money Association, which includes companies such as Stripe, Paypal, Facebook and Revolut, is opposed to the plan,” the publication adds.
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