Mobile payment: why the Swiss pay with Twint

Anyone who makes mobile payments in Switzerland usually uses the local alternative Twint instead of Paypal or Apple Pay. Why is the app number 1 for daily shopping or when transferring money between friends?

Weekly market in the Plainpalais district of Geneva. Radishes, lamb’s lettuce, spinach leaves – please: five francs and have a nice day too. Change jingles and changes hands. More and more often, however, it no longer jingles here. Because the friendly saleswoman wrote “Payment in cash or Twint” on a wooden sign and drew a heart next to it.

“We accept the Twint payment app here at the market stall. We have the QR code. It’s practical for customers. You don’t need a card or cash – just the phone,” explains the saleswoman. “More and more people are using it. And because we don’t have a card payment machine here, they’re happy that they can pay by phone here.” Or with “Twint” – the Swiss payment app that is linked directly to your own account.

No credit card required

You don’t need more than a checking account to install the app on your cell phone. Unlike most international payment apps, a credit card is not required.

This also makes Twint attractive for younger people – like the student Felipe. “If I’ve left my wallet at home, I can pay with Twint in practically every shop in Switzerland,” he explains. “Another function that I think is great is: Send money. I just have to enter the phone number and I can easily transfer a certain amount or request money: If we go to a restaurant, eat together, then we can easily pay the bill like that split.”

More successful than Apple Pay and Paypal

The national payment app is more successful in Switzerland than global competitors such as Apple Pay or Paypal. As early as 2020, a study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts estimated Twint’s market share for mobile payment methods at around 75 percent.

The number of users continued to rise, reports Markus Kilb, CEO of Twint AG. “We are currently well over four million active TWINT users. That is very strong growth: we had around one million registered customers at the end of 2018 and around 600,000 to 700,000 active customers at the time,” says Kilb. “We have well over 200,000 online and offline acceptance points in Switzerland where I can pay with Twint.”

The success of Twint can probably be explained by the history of its founding – a successful merger of two start-ups that had launched payment apps in Switzerland at the same time. “A Twint 2.0, so to speak – you’ve just put the best of two worlds together here,” says Kilb.

Owned by banks and financial firms

Today’s Twint AG belongs to several banking and financial companies, including the major banks UBS and Credit Suisse, as well as PostFinance, which had already launched the first Twint company. “No matter which bank you are with: Twint is there for everyone” – this is how the app advertises for new users.

“I think our strength also lies in our local roots,” says Kilb. The company works closely with the farmers’ association. And that’s how twinting is also done in rural Switzerland: When farmers sell eggs, fruit or flowers out in the open or in the farm shop, the QR code for the TWINT app is now usually stuck to the boxes to insert money.

“For the operator of the farm shop, it has the great advantage that he no longer runs the risk of his cash register being stolen,” says Kilb. “It is even recommended by the police that the farm shops should use a corresponding Twint solution.”