The transition from the Dutch national payment system to a joint European payment infrastructure was a sizeable operation, comparable to the introduction of the euro. With the migration to SEPA successfully completed, the Dutch Payments Association and its members can cooperate in the further innovation of payments.

Continued growth and more convenience for electronic payments
Electronic payments at points of sale again rose sharply in 2014. In addition, several innovations were introduced: mobile payment terminals, debit card refunds, dip & go at parking meters and contactless payments with debit cards and smartphones. In particular secure and fast contactless payments are expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Already a quarter of all payment terminals and more than 10 million debit cards and phones are suitable for contactless payments. As a result of these developments, the Dutch are expected to pay more often with debit cards than with cash by 2020.

iDEAL in the Netherlands
Of all Dutch consumer spending, 8 percent is spent online. The vast majority of online purchases is paid with IDEAL (54 percent), followed at some distance by credit cards (11 percent).
The use of payment methods varies significantly by device. Still, iDEAL has the highest Dutch market share on all devices. On desktops and laptops however, iDEAL’s 59 percent share is much bigger than on smartphones (29 percent). An increasing number of online businesses offers iDEAL as a payment option with apps or mobile websites from banks, on smartphones and tablets. Therefore iDEAL’s market share on smartphones has increased sharply through 2014, from 24 percent in the first quarter to 34 percent by the end of the year.

iDEAL abroad
iDEAL is increasingly used to pay at foreign online retailers (about 20 percent in 2014).For now CPSPs play a major role in offering iDEAL as a payment method by foreign online stores. Through a CPSP most consumers can pay with their preferred payment method. The multi-payment services of CPSPs may suppress the need for an uniform international online payment method to pay across borders.

The future of iDEAL
In 2014, the development of new functionalities for iDEAL has been explored. This exploration focussed on new payment opportunities, multiple payment opportunities and – at the request of the customer – adding customer data to a payment. New developments associated to iDEAL include electronic identification services and are aligned with the Payments 2.0 program, carried out under the auspices of the Dutch Payments Association.