Twint has 5 million users in Switzerland for the first time

Martin Jungfer

22.2.2023

Translation: machine translated

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly helped. But also the staying power of Twint's partner companies. The payment service has announced that it has reached the five million active user brand for the first time. And these users have made a huge number of transactions.

When Twint was launched in 2015, hardly anyone had the mobile payment service on their radar. Today, less than eight years later, 98 per cent of all over-16s in Switzerland are familiar with Twint. The service has over five million active users. They have made 386 million transactions. These are the figures that Twint reported in a press release on Tuesday.

The main reason for this is that the number of transactions almost quadrupled from 2020 to 2022. The coronavirus pandemic made paying with cash less attractive. At the same time, Twint has also gained more and more partners, enabling it to expand its service. You can now use the Twint app on your smartphone to pay for parking or train tickets, eggs from the farm shop or a packet of chewing gum at the kiosk. Even donations can be made with Twint, and at the local sports festival you can scan the QR code at the barbecue and pay for the bratwurst. Twint has worked its way into almost every niche of everyday life in Switzerland.

The success of Twint shows that there is room in Switzerland for proprietary solutions developed here. Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are also available in Switzerland, but people who want to send money between friends use Twint. The service, which is jointly supported by the major banks and payment service providers, works for everyone - including young people who do not yet have their own credit card. Twint can simply be linked to a bank account.

The companies pay for the use of Twint

If you use Twint privately, it's free. That is certainly one of the success factors. Twint incurs costs for companies that offer it as a payment option. This also applies to the Digitec and Galaxus online shops. The two sides were at odds over the question of how high this fee should be, so much so that it was not possible to pay with Twint for most of 2020. This payment option was only available again in November.

Today, Twint is one of the most popular forms of payment in our online shops. In a few months, 30 per cent of all payment transactions will be made via Twint. This puts its share just behind payments by invoice, but well ahead of credit card payments.

According to Twint's press release, its payment service is now available in 77 per cent of all shops. 76 per cent of all online shops would offer Twint as a payment option.

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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