Anyone living in Switzerland cannot avoid using payment Swiss banks' payment apps. Payment transactions themselves are undergoing another fundamental transformation, and for Twint, it marks the start of a new race.
This year the payment app Twint reached the milestone of five million active users, the company reported Tuesday, meaning it significantly expanded its user base from four million in 2022.
More Popular Than Gruyère
«Twinting» has since established itself as a verb in everyday vernacular. In a nationwide ranking, Twint was recently ranked among Switzerland's ten most popular brands, along with Whatsapp and Google, and ahead of the Post Office and Gruyère cheese.
According to preliminary calculations made available Tuesday, users of the app twinted nearly 400 million times in 2022, collectively more than in all years combined since its inception. «We are delighted that more than half of the people in Switzerland now rely on Twint in their daily lives,» said CEO Markus Kilb.
Twint Supremacy
With those numbers, Twint has established itself as Switzerland's digital payment solution, well ahead of Apple Pay or other foreign offerings. The app is most frequently used at supermarket checkouts but is also popular for buying public transport tickets, paying parking fees, and making purchases in neighborhood stores and specialty stores. It is also increasingly becoming popular for online and retail purchases.
The fintech is increasingly seeking to convert this supremacy into hard cash. The fees Twint is charging retailers are approaching the costs of credit card payments. Twint stated upon request there have been no fee increases in 2022. Twint offers acceptance for small merchants without a basic fee and without a minimum turnover of 1.3 percent of the transaction value which is significantly cheaper than the competition.
Push Platform
Twint is moving towards a platform solution that will make offers available to users of the app beyond the payment process. Banks are once again on board. Swissbilling, the subsidiary of Cembra Money Bank that specializes in bill payment solutions, reached an agreement with the fintech in September to collaborate on buy now pay later (BNPL).
In November, Twint teamed up with comparison service Alao. The partnership is designed to allow Twint users to use filters and user profiles to find the best mobile plan for them.
Building a platform of offerings sooner rather than later is important because starting in the summer of 2024, instant payment will become the payment norm in Switzerland. The payment processing within ten seconds, peer-to-peer transfers, and payment requests are already implemented in the EU and are among Twint's key features.
