AIB, PTSB and Bank of Ireland to launch Revolut rival

The new Irish mobile payment service Zippay is expected to launch early next year

Starting in 2026, AIB, PTSB and Bank of Ireland will launch Zippay, an online banking tool with the potential to rival popular instant payment app Revolut. Initially, the service will be available in-app to the three banks’ 5m eligible customers and will be delivered by European paytech Nexi. 

Nexi, which is based in Milan, has a presence in a number of countries worldwide and a history with Ireland’s financial services sector, having previously partnered with several institutions that offer digital payment solutions. 

Through the app, users will be able to send or request money, as well as split payments with people in their phone contacts, who are also active on the app. 

Brian Hayes, the CEO of Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) claimed, because the service is connected via existing mobile banking apps, it will come with the same “high levels of security, protection and digital safety”, avoiding the need for the topping up of a digital wallet, or the downloading of a separate app. 

He added, “There will be no need to set up a new payee or know their IBAN, BIC or account numbers, the money will transfer between accounts seamlessly. The service will allow customers to send up to €1,000 per day as well as request up to €500 per transaction.”

Also speaking on today’s announcement Renato Martini, the digital banking solutions director for the Nexi Group said, “Built on an API-based architecture, Nexi has designed Zippay for scalability and future expansion with the goal of making the solution as widely available as possible to customers across Ireland. 

“After the initial launch, Zippay will be offered on a non-discriminatory basis to all financial institutions that provide IBAN account services and a mobile app to Irish consumers and Nexi will manage the integration of eligible financial institutions that wish to join the service.” 

He said the group is proud to be “contributing to the further acceleration of digital payment solutions in Europe”. 

Plans by a number of prominent Irish banks to establish a mobile payment app were first announced in 2022, then under the name Synch Payments, however, those plans were eventually scrapped, with a few reasons given. 

Reportedly, an elongated timeframe made the project unrealistic, additionally the initial application for competition clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was denied and its second submission, while accepted, was subject to binding commitments. 

Another blow came when the Central Bank announced that it would require authorisation as an account information service provider and a payment initiation service provider, which only added to an already drawn out process and timeframe. In the end, the financial institutions dropped their plans. 

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