Twint is a Swiss

mobile payment Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cas ...

system rolled out nation-wide in 2017. As of 2024, Twint has become ubiquitous in Switzerland, with practically all stores accepting Twint payments and nearly all banks taking part in the payment system. The app was developed by Monexio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PostFinance, beginning in 2014. The first banks that cooperated in Twint were the Berner Kantonalbank and Valiant Bank in 2015, joined by the Basler Kantonalbank and Bank Cler in 2016. Twint had approximately five million users at the begin of 2023, out of the seven million adult population of Switzerland at the time.

Company

History

Twint was created by Monexio AG, a company founded in July 2014 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of PostFinance. PostFinance Executive Board member Thierry Kneissler was appointed CEO, while Hansruedi Köng, CEO of PostFinance, became Chairman of the Board of Directors. The company became operational in August 2014. The pre-launch of Twint took place from 6 August 2015, starting in the cities of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. The national rollout began on 3 November 2015. In May 2016, Twint and Paymit, a competitor made by the

Zurich Cantonal Bank Zurich Cantonal Bank (, or ZKB) is the largest cantonal bank and fourth largest bank in Switzerland, with total assets of over CHF 150 billion. ZKB, as an independent, incorporated public-law institution, is wholly owned by the canton of Zür ...

and the

SIX Group SIX is a key financial market infrastructure company in Switzerland. The company provides services relating to securities transactions, the processing of financial information, payment transactions and is building a digital infrastructure. The c ...

, announced a fusion, which was approved by the

Competition Commission of Switzerland The Competition Commission (COMCO) is the Swiss competition regulator. Created in 1995, the commission is subordinated to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research but operates independently. It is responsible for the en ...

in September 2016.

Services

Each Twint account is connected to a mobile phone number, a bank account, or both.

Payments to other Twint users

When making a payment to a private Twint user, the payer selects the receiver's contact in the app, and specifies the sum. A receiver can also request a sum from a mobile phone contact if that person is also using the Twint app.

Payment in stores

Payment when making purchases can happen in two ways: * The credit card terminal's display shows an instantly generated QR code that contains both the recipient's account, and the amount to be paid. With the phone's camera, the app scans the QR code, and then asks the payer for confirmation. * The store owner can display a sheet of paper on which a static QR code is printed. In that case, the QR code only specifies the recipient's account, and the payer has to enter the sum on his mobile phone. After successful payment, the payer then shows his phone display to the vendor, where the app displays the sum and the receiver's identity. Specifically the latter method has allowed many small stores to be integrated into cashless money transfer, e.g.

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

s, club restaurants at sports matches, and second-hand shops, without having to invest in credit card terminals.

References

External links

* {{Digital payment providers Mobile payments Companies based in Zurich Financial services companies of Switzerland Swiss companies established in 2014