A payments app developed by Ireland’s high street banks to compete with the likes of Revolut has been given the all-clear by the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
The money-transfer app, called Yippay, was developed by a joint venture, Synch Payments, set up by AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Ireland and Permanent TSB.
Having pumped several million euros into the project, the partners saw their original submission to the CCPC rejected in January 2021 for a lack of detail.
The commission then launched a full investigation over concerns that the JV could be a means of preventing potential new competitors from entering the market and that it could stifle mobile payments innovation.
The CCPC has now cleared the venture after Synch set out objective eligibility criteria for any banks or other financial institutions that wish to become participants in the service. It has also promised to, in due course, allow for interoperability by providing access to a SDK component which will allow licensees to embed functionalities within their own apps.
Synch will also put in place a governance structure that includes independent board members to ensure it operates with a level of independence from the founding shareholders.