The app was developed in a joint venture by a number of major Irish banks.
Revolut will soon no longer be the only mobile payments app in town, as a new rival has just been given the green light for use in Ireland.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has officially granted approval for Synch Payments, a new company, to provide a new mobile payments service called Yippay.
Synch is a joint venture between Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB P.L.C. and KBC Bank Ireland, who recently left the Irish market.
The service will be available to customers of these banks and other financial institutions that participate in Synch.
A new app will be launched, which will allow customers to make instant person-to-person and person-to-business transactions.
The CCPC conducted a full investigation into the joint venture due to fears it could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition in the State.”
“First, the CCPC was concerned that, given that the founding shareholders represent a large combined share of the Irish banking sector, the joint venture could be a means of foreclosing potential new competitors from entering the market for the provision of banking products and services, for example by denying or delaying access to a licence to participate in the mobile payments service,” the commision wrote in a statement on Thursday (16 June).
“Second, the CCPC was concerned that the establishment of Synch could lead to the stifling of innovation in mobile payments services, either through the ability of the founding shareholders to influence decisions regarding future innovation within Synch itself or through a reduced incentive to develop other services.”
Synch has made a series of commitments to the CCPC to ensure that competition was not stifled in the state.
A launch date has not been set for the new service, titled Yippay, but keep an eye out wherever you download your apps.
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