Standards/mybank-qr
MyBank QR
Overview
Note on the misleading slug. This entry's slug is
mybank-qrfor historical reasons (it was originally added under the broad "QR Code" bucket), but MyBank is not a QR-symbol standard. It is a bank-redirect e-authorisation rail: the customer selects "MyBank" at merchant checkout, is redirected into their own online-banking interface, authenticates, and authorises a SEPA Credit Transfer — no QR symbol involved at any step. The slug is retained to avoid breaking incoming links; the wiki shows no playground because there is no payload to encode.
MyBank is a pan-European e-authorisation and Online Banking ePayments service, launched 25 March 2013 by EBA Clearing (the European Banking Association's clearing-house consortium) 2, EU report. MyBank enables online payments using SEPA infrastructure — customers authorise payments directly via their bank's online-banking interface, eliminating the need to share card details with merchants. The service was designed as a pan-European Open-Banking-style payment channel before "Open Banking" became the dominant terminology — predating PSD2 mandates by years.
First-phase rollout focused on Italy, where MyBank gained significant early adoption: 48 participating Italian banks at launch with 300+ additional Italian institutions scheduled to join by end-2013 3. Italian utility provider Enel connected to MyBank with UniCredit support in November 2013 — demonstrating early enterprise integration. Despite the Italian-anchor adoption, MyBank is structurally pan-European — designed for SEPA-area cross-border bank-redirect payment. EBA Clearing's broader infrastructure includes EURO1 (RTGS-equivalent for large-value euro), STEP2 (SEPA batched ACH), and RT1 (SEPA SCT Inst instant); MyBank sits as the consumer-facing e-payment service complementing these wholesale rails.
History
Background — EBA Clearing 1:
- EBA Clearing founded 1998 by major European banks.
- Operates EURO1, STEP2, RT1 + MyBank.
Pre-launch (2010-2013) 3:
- Italian banks championed MyBank development.
- Pan-European design from outset.
25 March 2013 — MyBank launches 2:
- EBA Clearing officially launches MyBank.
- First phase focuses on Italian market.
16 May 2012 — Italian banks + e-merchants embrace MyBank 3:
- Pre-launch positioning.
Italian adoption first phase:
- 48 participating Italian banks at launch.
- 300+ additional Italian institutions scheduled by end-2013.
28 November 2013 — Enel connects [ebaclearing]:
- Utility provider Enel connects to MyBank with UniCredit support.
Pan-European expansion 1:
- Beyond Italy: gradual expansion across SEPA-area countries.
Technical specification
MyBank is EBA Clearing's pan-European e-authorisation + Online Banking ePayments service 1, 2:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Operator | EBA Clearing (European Banking Association consortium) |
| Launch | 25 March 2013 |
| Underlying SEPA infrastructure | EBA Clearing rails (STEP2 / RT1) |
| Currency | EUR |
| Model | Bank-redirect Online Banking ePayments |
| Initial focus market | Italy (48 banks at launch + 300+ end-2013) |
| Geographic scope | Pan-European (SEPA) |
| Sibling EBA Clearing products | EURO1 (large-value), STEP2 (batched ACH), RT1 (SCT Inst instant) |
Flow 1:
- Customer selects MyBank at merchant checkout.
- Redirects to customer's bank online-banking.
- Authentication + payment authorisation.
- Direct bank-to-bank SEPA transfer.
Open-Banking-predecessor pattern 1:
- Pre-PSD2 (2018 effective), MyBank already operated bank-redirect-payment model.
- Inspired some later Open Banking developments.
Use cases
E-commerce checkout (bank-redirect) 2: Italian + pan-European online merchants.
Utility bills (Enel partnership) [ebaclearing]: Major utility provider integration.
B2B payments 1: Some enterprise integrations.
Cross-border SEPA 1: Within euro area.
Government services 1: Italian e-government partial integration.
Implementations & ecosystem
Operator: EBA Clearing.
Founding-era Italian banks (48 at launch): UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, BNL, Banca Sella, others.
Italian utility integration: Enel (with UniCredit support).
Pan-European bank participation: Expanded across SEPA-area banks.
Modern Italian competitors: BANCOMAT Pay, Bizum QR-equivalent NL/DE/ES products, EPC SCT Inst-overlay schemes.
Fun facts
- March 2013 launch — pre-PSD2 (2018 effective): MyBank's bank-redirect model predated formal Open Banking mandate by 5 years.
- Italian-anchor adoption: First-phase Italian focus (48 banks + 300+ institutions end-2013) reflects Italian banks' coordination capability + Italian-utility willingness to be early enterprise customer.
- EBA Clearing's broader role: Operates Europe's most important wholesale-payment infrastructure (EURO1, STEP2, RT1) — MyBank is consumer-payment extension.
- Quiet competitor amidst louder rivals: MyBank receives less attention than Bizum, iDEAL QR, EPS, Klarna SOFORT — but operates similar bank-redirect model at pan-European scale.
- SEPA infrastructure leverage: Built atop existing SEPA rails rather than parallel infrastructure.
- Enel partnership November 2013: First major utility integration — significant for adoption legitimacy.
Comparison
| Feature | MyBank (EU) | iDEAL QR (NL) | EPS (AT) | giropay (DE) | Klarna SOFORT (EU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | EBA Clearing | Currence (NL banks) | Joint AT banks + Gov | DK card-issuers | Klarna |
| Launch | Mar 2013 | 2005 | Mid-2000s | 2005 | 2005 |
| Scope | Pan-European | NL primary | AT primary | DE primary | DE/AT primary, broader |
| Bank-redirect model | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| First-phase anchor | Italy (48 banks) | All NL banks | AT banks | DE banks | DE/AT banks |
| Government endorsement | Limited | Used by NL gov | Official AT | Used by DE gov | None |
Status
Active, pan-European bank-redirect payment 1, 2:
- EBA Clearing operator since 25 March 2013.
- 48+ Italian banks primary base, pan-European expansion.
- SEPA infrastructure-based.
- Enel utility integration.
Sources
- 1 EBA Clearing — Wikipedia
- 2 EBA CLEARING launches MyBank
- 3 Italian banks embrace MyBank
- EU report Multiple European country reports
Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across reports/countries/):
- IT — IT-italy.md
Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country
- EU (Italy-led)