How do people in Belgium pay online?
Most Belgians shop online. Eurostat puts the share of people who bought something online in the previous 12 months at 78.53% in 2025, against an EU average of 73.56%, and 66.65% had bought online in the previous three months.
Bancontact is the national payment brand. Bancontact Company, formerly Bancontact Payconiq Company, recorded 2.5 billion payments in 2025. They included 1.9 billion card payments in shops, 1.4 billion of them contactless, 526 million mobile payments, up 11.6%, and 393 million online payments through its mobile solutions. The company counts nearly 18 million Bancontact cards in circulation.
Online, the phone has replaced the card reader. In 2024, Bancontact and Payconiq recorded 382 million online payments made with a smartphone or a card reader, and 90% of online Bancontact payments were made with a smartphone. The shopper scans a QR code or opens the app and approves the payment on their phone.
The brands are changing. On 6 November 2025 the company announced that the Payconiq brand would disappear in the course of 2026, that the Payconiq by Bancontact app would become Bancontact Pay and that the company would be renamed Bancontact Company in spring 2026. The merchant app Payconiq Go became Bancontact Pro in March 2026. The company also said it would distribute Wero, the pan-European payment solution, with its merchant platform supporting Wero from spring 2026, and froze merchant prices until the end of 2026.
International cards sit next to Bancontact. Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards are accepted online and confirmed with the bank’s authentication step.
What rules shape online payments in Belgium?
VAT is 21%, with reduced rates of 12% and 6%. The 6% rate covers basic necessities such as food and pharmaceuticals, and books. A seller established in another EU country whose cross-border sales to consumers across the EU pass EUR 10,000 a year charges Belgian VAT on sales to Belgian customers, and can declare it through the One Stop Shop instead of registering in Belgium.
Business invoices are now electronic. Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must use structured electronic invoices with each other, sent over the Peppol network. Invoices to consumers are not covered, but a business that sells only to consumers must still be able to receive structured invoices from its suppliers.
Shoppers have 14 days to withdraw. The FPS Economy explains that an online shopper can withdraw within 14 days of receiving the parcel, then has another 14 days to send the product back. The business must refund using the same payment method and must also refund the standard delivery costs. The shopper may have to pay for the return if the terms and conditions say so.
Card surcharges are banned. Under EU rules, traders cannot charge an extra fee for using a particular consumer card, online or in store. Three-party schemes such as American Express and Diners Club, and business cards billed to an employer, are outside the ban.
Online payments need strong customer authentication. For online payments over EUR 30, the payer usually has to use at least two authentication elements, such as their phone and a PIN, or a password and a fingerprint.
Instant euro transfers are now standard. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, payment providers in the euro area have had to receive instant euro payments since January 2025 and, since 9 October 2025, to send them and offer a check that the payee’s name matches the account. An instant payment cannot cost more than a standard credit transfer.
How would Omno route payments in Belgium?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency, amount and customer group. In Belgium:
- Bancontact pay-ins would go to a provider that supports Bancontact, with the hosted checkout showing the QR code on desktop or opening the app on mobile, and the order pending until the provider confirms the payment.
- Card pay-ins would be routed by the merchant’s rules, for example by BIN, amount or customer group, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Apple Pay and Google Pay would be offered on the hosted checkout next to the card form and routed to providers that support them, under the same rules as cards.
- Wero could be added as its own method once a connected provider supports it, without changing the checkout integration.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for Bancontact first. It is the payment brand Belgians use every day, and a checkout with only international cards leaves many shoppers without their usual method.
Plan for the phone. Nine in ten online Bancontact payments are made with a smartphone, so the QR code on desktop and the switch to the app on mobile need to work smoothly.
Plan for brand changes. Payconiq has become Bancontact Pay and Wero is arriving, so check how your payment providers show the methods during 2026.
Plan for refunds by the same payment method after a withdrawal, and for structured e-invoices if you have a Belgian VAT number.