iDEAL- A Dutch Rival to Trustly as a payments solution?
First launched in 2005, iDEAL is a secure payment provider based in the Netherlands. 2019 represented their biggest year yet marked by market share increase of 20%. The firm was picked up by Currence in 2006 and has gone from strength-to-strength ever since. Currence’s annual report for 2019 suggested that iDEAL is now fully established as a ‘strong omnichannel payment solution’ and the stats certainly reflect this:
8 out of 10 payments are made through mobile
7 out of 10 online casino players prefer using ideal as a payment method for deposits and withdrawals
iDEAL has now been used for over 3 billion euros worth of payments
The number of stores outside of the Netherlands offering iDEAL as a payment method for Dutch customers increased by 137% to almost 17,000
How does iDEAL work?
iDEAL works similarly to a number of other secure payment providers such as PayPal, Trustly, etc. but is limited to the Netherlands at the moment – though as the stats above show, there is a growing interest in other places around the world for it. It is increasingly being used to pay for nearly every part of consumer’s daily lives, such as energy bills, taxes, mobile credit, and no account online casinos.
The process of actually paying for goods or online betting in the Netherlands with iDEAL is incredibly simple and streamlined. You simply choose the product you want, select iDEAL as the payment process at which point you are asked to log into your bank and make the purchase or transaction. You can also easily withdraw your winnings via iDEAL.
It is this ease of use that is arguably iDEAL’s greatest strength. There is no need to enroll or sign up (so long as your bank is one of the 12 partner banks), all payments are made through your bank, details are pre-filled and you will instantly know if there are any problems with the transaction.
iDEAL also includes different mediums of payment catering to the growing popularity of Account to Account payment solutions. The system is available as a ‘payment button’ on e-commerce sites, as a QR code and as a ‘payment link’ to stores. A QR code can also be generated as a form of payment request to another consumer.
For 2020, iDEAL is trialing a new system called iDEAL: Inplannen. This will allow the user to schedule payments with your bank for a date set by a trader or business. They also plan to launch a ‘Check-Out’ system to allow customers to add a billing or delivery address with the payment, abolishing the need to do this separately.
Is iDEAL really worth using?
Undoubtedly, iDEAL had many benefits to its name. It’s fast, secure, and simple. For online casino players in the Netherlands, it is absolutely worth using. But this is its biggest drawback- it’s unavailable elsewhere. As iDEAL grows in notoriety we may see things change and the service becomes available in other markets.
Currently, some of the early adopters in the online casino world include Boom Casino, Casimba Casino, and Speedy Casino. If iDEAL continues the success it is seeing at the moment, expect the number of casinos offering it to rise sharply. It’s probably not worth changing your payment provider right now, but iDEAL is definitely one to watch for the future and a potential contender for Trustly’s crown.