# Payconiq/Bancontact > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/payconiq > research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-03 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards Specifications: - [Payconiq — official](https://www.payconiq.com/) - [Bancontact Payconiq Company — official](https://www.bancontactpayconiq.com/) ## Overview **Payconiq** is Belgium and Luxembourg's leading mobile payment system, **launched in 2015** as an ING internal-incubator project that grew into a multi-bank platform [1][1], [2][2], [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE). Today it operates as **"Payconiq by Bancontact"** following the **July 2018 merger of Payconiq Belgium with Bancontact** (Belgium's national debit card network, ~94 % of Belgian debit cards) [2][2], [3][3]. The merged entity is **Bancontact Payconiq Company (BPC)**, owned by the major Belgian banks (Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC, AXA) [2][2]. **Payconiq by Bancontact app statistics (Belgium)**: - **2 million users** - **471 million mobile payments in 2024** (+28 % YoY) - **20 Belgian banks** with app access - Available also in **Luxembourg** via Payconiq International (the Digicash legacy) **The defining 2024–2026 event**: Like [iDEAL QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/ideal-qr) (Netherlands), **Payconiq is being progressively replaced by [Wero](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/wero)**. **EPI acquired Payconiq International in October 2023** [4][4]; **Wero launched in Belgium on 19 November 2024** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE); **the Payconiq app will rebrand to "Bancontact Pay" in 2026** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE); the **15-18-month transition is underway**. ## History **Background — ING's internal-incubator origin** [1][1], [2][2]: - ING Bank operated an internal incubator program in the early 2010s for new fintech products. - Payconiq emerged from this program as a **mobile payment app concept** targeting the Belgian / Luxembourg market. - Initial idea: replace card payments and cash for everyday Belgian / Luxembourg merchant transactions with a smartphone-app-based alternative. **2015 — Payconiq launches in Belgium** [1][1], [5][5]: - ING Bank backed the launch, joined later by Belgian banks **KBC Bank** and **Belfius**. - Initial Belgian merchant onboarding focused on retail point-of-sale. - The structural proposition: app-based instant payment without card-network fees. **2017 — Luxembourg expansion via Digicash acquisition** [1][1]: - Payconiq established in Luxembourg through the **acquisition of the Luxembourgish fintech startup Digicash Payments**. - This created **Payconiq International** as the Luxembourg-headquartered umbrella entity. **March-July 2018 — Bancontact merger** [2][2], [3][3], [5][5]: - **March 2018**: Payconiq Belgium and **Bancontact** (Belgian national debit card network) announced intention to merge. - **July 2018**: Merger finalised. The combined entity became **Bancontact Payconiq Company (BPC)**. - The Payconiq and Bancontact apps were integrated into a single app called **"Payconiq by Bancontact"** — supported by **20 Belgian banks** and **290,000 stores** in Belgium [5][5]. - **Capital injection**: €17.6 million from five major shareholders (Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC, AXA). **Subsequent growth** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): - Reached **2 million app users** in Belgium. - **471 million mobile payments in 2024** (+28 % YoY) — substantial growth as Belgian consumers shifted toward mobile-app payments. - **In-store card payments via Bancontact** remained dominant at 1.9 billion 2024 transactions; mobile-app payments grew faster but from smaller base. **October 2023 — EPI acquires Payconiq International** [4][4], [6][6]: **The European Payments Initiative** acquired Payconiq International (the Luxembourg-based umbrella entity) alongside Currence iDEAL BV (the Netherlands' [iDEAL QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/ideal-qr)) in coordinated October 2023 deals. EPI's strategic logic: acquire major national-payment-installed-bases (Payconiq's ~2M Belgian + Luxembourg users + iDEAL's 1.5B-transactions-per-year Dutch user base) to leverage for [Wero](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/wero)'s pan-European rollout. **November 2024 — Wero launches in Belgium** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): - **19 November 2024**: Wero went live in Belgium across the major banks (Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, Fintro, Hello bank!, ING, KBC, CBC). - Payconiq → Wero transition begins; **15-18-month migration period**. **Transition roadmap (Belgium)** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): | Date | Milestone | |---|---| | November 2024 | Wero launches in Belgium | | Spring 2026 | **New dual QR stickers** (Bancontact Pay + Wero) deployed at merchants | | 2026 | **Payconiq app rebrands to "Bancontact Pay"** | | 2026-2027 | **Full Wero integration** | The **dual QR stickers** approach preserves Belgian consumer familiarity with both Bancontact and Wero brands during the transition. ## Technical specification Payconiq by Bancontact runs on **SEPA Credit Transfer Instant (SCT Inst) via TIPS** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE), [1][1]: | Layer | Description | |---|---| | **Underlying rail** | SCT Inst via TIPS (Belgian bank participation) | | **Settlement** | Real-time (sub-10-seconds) | | **Currency** | EUR (Belgium + Luxembourg) | | **Standard body** | **Bancontact Payconiq Company (BPC)**; **EPI-owned (Payconiq International) since October 2023** | | **Banks** | 20 Belgian banks with app access | | **Merchants** | 290,000+ Belgian stores accepting (alongside Bancontact card acceptance) | **Interaction modes** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE), [1][1]: | Mode | Description | |---|---| | **QR scan (static)** | Customer scans merchant's printed QR sticker; enters amount; confirms in-app | | **QR scan (dynamic)** | POS terminal displays per-transaction QR with amount; customer scans and confirms | | **Mobile P2P** | Send money by phone number to other Payconiq users | | **Online checkout** | E-commerce integration; customer redirected or QR-displayed | **Underlying brand-and-network architecture**: - **Bancontact** (card network, 94 % Belgian debit cards, 18M cards in circulation, 2.5B 2024 transactions) provides the underlying card-acceptance rails. - **Payconiq** (mobile app brand) provides the mobile-payment overlay. - **BPC** operates both brands as a single company. **Belgian IBAN structure** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): ``` BE + 2 check digits + 3-digit bank code + 7-digit account + 2 check digits Example: BE68 5390 0754 7034 (16 characters) ``` **Luxembourgian context** [1][1]: - Payconiq International (Luxembourg) is the operational entity post-Digicash-acquisition. - Some Luxembourg-specific features that don't fully overlap with Belgium-only product. ## Use cases Payconiq by Bancontact's deployment is **Belgian retail-and-P2P focused** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): - **Retail point of sale** — 290,000+ Belgian stores accept Payconiq via QR or NFC. The dominant Belgian mobile-app payment method. - **P2P transfers** — by phone number among Payconiq users. - **E-commerce checkout** — increasingly offered alongside Bancontact card and Visa/Mastercard. - **Bill payments** — utilities, telecom, government bills. - **POM** (third-party Belgian bill-payment service) integrates Payconiq. - **Luxembourg** — via the Digicash-acquired Payconiq International entity, similar use-case mix. **Adoption scale (Belgium 2024)** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): - **2 million app users** - **471 million mobile payments (+28 % YoY)** - **20 Belgian banks** with app access - **290,000+ accepting merchants** - **Underlying Bancontact rail**: 18M cards, 2.5B 2024 transactions, 1.35B contactless ## Implementations Payconiq integration is **BPC-mediated** (post-merger) and now **EPI-mediated** (since the October 2023 acquisition of Payconiq International) [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE). **Production bank apps consuming Payconiq** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE): | App | Bank | |---|---| | **Easy Banking** | BNP Paribas Fortis | | **KBC Mobile** | KBC | | **Belfius Mobile** | Belfius | | **ING Banking** | ING Belgium | | **CBC Mobile** | CBC | | **Argenta** | Argenta | Plus 14+ other smaller Belgian banks — totaling **20 banks** with app access. **Standalone app**: **"Payconiq by Bancontact"** — available for all 20 banks' customers; **becoming "Bancontact Pay" in 2026** as part of the Wero transition. **Merchant integration**: - **BPC operates the merchant acquirer onboarding** alongside Worldline and other Belgian payment processors. - **Major Belgian PSPs** integrate Payconiq as a payment method. **No significant open-source library ecosystem** — Payconiq's protocol is gated by BPC / EPI; integration goes through bank or acquirer APIs. ## Comparison **vs. [Wero](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/wero) (EPI's pan-European wallet)** — Direct successor relationship. Payconiq is being **replaced by Wero** through EPI's coordinated transition: - **October 2023**: EPI acquires Payconiq International. - **19 November 2024**: Wero launches in Belgium. - **Spring 2026**: Dual QR stickers (Bancontact Pay + Wero). - **2026**: Payconiq app rebrands to "Bancontact Pay". - **2026-2027**: Full Wero integration. Wero adds: **pan-European interoperability** (Belgium-Germany-France-Netherlands-Luxembourg + EuroPA partners), **NFC POS payments** (planned 2026), enhanced features. The Belgian-Wero variant preserves Bancontact's brand identity ("Bancontact Pay") to maintain consumer recognition [wero-ref], [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE). **vs. [iDEAL QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/ideal-qr) (Netherlands)** — Both EPI-acquired in October 2023. Both bank-consortium national-payment standards. **iDEAL is e-commerce-checkout dominant** (~70 % Dutch e-commerce share); **Payconiq is mobile-merchant-P2P dominant** (Bancontact handles the card-checkout side). Different national-product mixes; both being merged into Wero's pan-European offering [ideal-ref], [Netherlands report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NL). **vs. [Bizum](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/bizum) (Spain), [MB WAY QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/mb-way-qr) (Portugal)** — Southern European peers in the EuroPA cross-border initiative. Bizum and MB WAY remain independent products in the EuroPA-EPI dual-framework approach (June 2025 partnership feasibility study); **Payconiq is being merged into Wero directly** rather than maintained as independent. Different EPI-vs-EuroPA approaches [[bizum-ref], [mb-way-ref]]. **vs. [BLIK](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/blik) (Poland)** — Both bank-consortium national mobile-payment systems. Poland non-eurozone (PLN); Belgium eurozone (EUR). BLIK remains independent; Payconiq is being absorbed into Wero. Different national-strategy choices [[blik-ref]]. **vs. Bancontact (Belgian card network)** — Complementary, now under the same BPC corporate roof. Bancontact = card network for physical retail (94 % Belgian debit market); Payconiq = mobile-app overlay for QR / P2P / online. **The merger in 2018 unified them under one company; the Wero transition in 2026 preserves the Bancontact brand** (as "Bancontact Pay") while the Payconiq brand sunsets. ## Fun facts **Payconiq came from ING's internal incubator** [1][1], [2][2] — one of the more successful fintech outcomes from a major-European-bank-internal-innovation program. Most bank internal fintech projects fail to scale beyond pilot; Payconiq grew into a multi-bank standard, was acquired by EPI for ~€unknown-but-substantial in 2023, and is now infrastructure for Wero's Belgian footprint. **The July 2018 Payconiq + Bancontact merger** [2][2], [3][3] was structurally important because it created **a unified Belgian mobile-and-card payment company** — Bancontact's 94 % debit-card market share combined with Payconiq's mobile-app brand created a single national-payment-system entity. Few countries have achieved similar unification (Dutch banks have iDEAL + Tikkie still as separate brands; Spanish banks have Bizum as separate from card-network Servired; etc.). **EPI's October 2023 acquisition of Payconiq International** [4][4] (alongside Currence iDEAL BV) was the **largest single coordinated payment-infrastructure acquisition deal in European fintech history**, by combined transaction-volume controlled. Payconiq's ~2M users + iDEAL's ~1.5B transactions per year + the operational expertise of both entities gave EPI a **massive head start** for Wero's pan-European launch. **The Belgian transition approach — dual QR stickers + brand rename to "Bancontact Pay"** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE) is **structurally more brand-preserving than the German Wero transition** (which simply discontinued Giropay) or the French transition (which migrated Paylib users to Wero with minimal brand continuity). Belgium's approach: **preserve the Bancontact brand recognition** (1979-founded card network with deep cultural penetration) while introducing Wero capability. The dual-sticker phase explicitly acknowledges that Belgian consumers know "Bancontact" deeply and benefit from gradual brand transition. **Bancontact = 1979** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE) — the Bancontact debit card network is **one of Europe's oldest national debit-card networks**, predating most peers. The cultural recognition built over 45+ years of Belgian retail payment is what justifies the careful brand-preservation approach in the Wero transition. **Belgium's payment landscape is uniquely consolidated** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE) — 4 banks (BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC, Belfius, ING Belgium) hold ~80 % of banking assets, and they're all simultaneously: - Bancontact card-network shareholders (since 1979) - Bancontact Payconiq Company shareholders (since 2018) - EPI / Wero shareholders (since 2020) This same-bank-set-across-three-generations-of-payment-infrastructure is structurally unusual and explains why Belgian payment-system transitions tend to be coordinated and gradual rather than fragmented. ## Status **Active, transitioning to Wero** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE), [4][4]: - **2 million Payconiq app users (Belgium)** - **471 million mobile payments in 2024 (+28 % YoY)** - **20 Belgian banks** with app access - **290,000+ accepting merchants** - **EPI-owned (Payconiq International) since October 2023** - **Wero launched in Belgium 19 November 2024** - **Transition to "Bancontact Pay" in 2026** - **Full Wero integration 2026-2027** **Strategic context** [Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE), [wero-ref]: - **Bancontact card-network brand preserved** as "Bancontact Pay" — protects the 1979-founded Belgian payment-system cultural recognition. - **Wero adds pan-European interoperability + NFC POS + purchase protection** that Payconiq doesn't have. - **The Belgian-Luxembourg transition is one of three coordinated EPI national-product transitions** (Germany Giropay → Wero, France Paylib → Wero, Belgium Payconiq → "Bancontact Pay"/Wero, Netherlands iDEAL → "iDEAL | Wero"). - **Luxembourg-specific Payconiq (Payconiq International)** is undergoing parallel transition. The structural pattern: **Payconiq's standalone-product era is ending** as EPI consolidates European payment infrastructure under Wero. The Belgian-specific dual-brand approach ("Bancontact Pay" + Wero) is the most brand-preserving of the EPI national-product transitions. ## Sources [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payconiq [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bancontact_Payconiq_Company [3]: https://www.electronicpaymentsinternational.com/news/belgian-payment-firms-payconiq-bancontact-merge-operations/ [4]: https://www.fintechfutures.com/m-a/european-payments-initiative-completes-acquisitions-of-ideal-and-payconiq-international [5]: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/31882/payconiq-to-merge-with-bancontact-in-belgium [6]: https://siliconcanals.com/european-payments-initiative-acquires-ideal/ [7]: https://www.payconiq.com/ [8]: https://www.bancontactpayconiq.com/ [be-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE [nl-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NL [wero-ref]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/wero [ideal-ref]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/ideal-qr [bizum-ref]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/bizum [mb-way-ref]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/mb-way-qr [blik-ref]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/blik 1. [Payconiq — Wikipedia][1] 2. [Bancontact Payconiq Company — Wikipedia][2] 3. [Payconiq + Bancontact merger — Electronic Payments International][3] 4. [EPI acquires Payconiq International — Fintech Futures][4] 5. [Payconiq to merge with Bancontact — Finextra][5] 6. [EPI acquires iDEAL + Payconiq — Silicon Canals][6] 7. [Payconiq official][7] 8. [Bancontact Payconiq Company official][8] 9. [BE-belgium.md][Belgium report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE) ## Deployments Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`): - **BE** — [BE-belgium.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/BE) - **LU** — [LU-luxembourg.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LU)