Yippay, a payments app developed by Ireland’s high street banks, has been given the green light by the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
The money-transfer app was developed by a joint venture between Synch Payments, AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Ireland and Permanent TSB.
Delving ‘several million euros’ into the venture, the joint partners had a previous submission to the CCPC rejected in January 2021, owing to a lack of detail.
The commission then launched an 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.
However, the CCPC has now cleared the venture after Synch Payments brought about an objective eligibility criteria for any banks or other financial institutions that wish to become participants in the service.
The venture into Yippay aims to allow for interoperability, 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.
