How does Bancontact work for online payments?
Bancontact is both a card and an app. The Bancontact debit card is linked to a Belgian bank account, and the Bancontact Pay app or a participating banking app lets the shopper pay from a phone. Bancontact now uses three names for online payments. Bancontact Pay covers mobile payments through a banking app or the Bancontact Pay app. Bancontact Card covers payments with the debit card, including those confirmed with a card reader. Bancontact One Click covers payments with a card the shopper has already registered with the merchant.
At checkout the shopper chooses Bancontact and is taken to a Bancontact payment page. Stripe’s documentation describes the flow. On a desktop, the shopper either enters their card details or scans a QR code that opens the Bancontact app. On a phone, they enter card details or tap a button that opens the app directly. They then authenticate with the card or the app, and Bancontact immediately confirms whether the payment succeeded or failed. Stripe gives the shopper up to one hour to authorise.
Bancontact’s own guidance adds the details. Card payments are confirmed with the bank app, the itsme app or a card reader, and Bancontact uses 3-D Secure when card details are entered online. In the Bancontact Pay app the shopper can link up to five Bancontact cards, including cards from different banks, and choose which one to use for each payment. Every online payment needs a second step such as a PIN or biometrics. Bancontact says the shopper’s card details are not shared with the merchant.
Where and how do shoppers use Bancontact?
Bancontact is used by shoppers with Belgian bank accounts, and payments are in euros. The network was created in 1979 and the QR code payment app followed in 2014. The company reports nearly 18 million cards in circulation and more than 2.5 billion transactions a year. Its app has 2 million active users and is available to customers of 17 banks on iOS and Android. In March 2026, the company said mobile made up 21% of its transactions and was the platform for 88% of Bancontact’s online transactions, and that 48% of Belgians used QR code payments in 2025, up from 42% in 2024.
The mobile side has been rebranded. Payconiq International, the technology company behind Payconiq, was bought by EPI, the company behind Wero, in October 2023. In November 2025 Bancontact Payconiq Company announced that it would become Bancontact Company in spring 2026, that the Payconiq brand would be discontinued and that its app would become Bancontact Pay. The app was renamed through an automatic update on 16 March 2026. Its chief executive said the app is not being replaced by Wero, and that QR payments in shops, between friends, online and in apps work as before.
Wero is arriving in Belgium alongside Bancontact, not instead of it. Bancontact Company distributes Wero to merchants, and its new merchant platform, Bancontact Pro, accepts Bancontact and was set to add Wero from spring 2026. New in-store QR stickers accept both Bancontact Pay and Wero. Separately, EPI launched Wero for online payments in Belgium in March 2026 with ING, KBC and BNP Paribas Fortis, with Belfius to follow and further banks in the second half of 2026. Wero is a separate payment method and is offered through its own acquirers.
What rules and costs should merchants know?
There are no chargebacks through the bank. Stripe’s documentation says Bancontact does not support the standard dispute process: shoppers authenticate with their bank, cannot file a chargeback, and a bank that is contacted about a payment sends the shopper back to the merchant. Mollie likewise describes a Bancontact payment as final once made.
Refunds work differently from card reversals. Stripe allows full and partial refunds within 730 days of the payment. A refund always arrives as a separate credit to the shopper’s bank account, typically within 2 to 5 days, and is not labelled as a refund on the bank statement. A refund cannot be cancelled once submitted.
Stripe sets a minimum of 0.50 EUR and does not support recurring payments or manual capture for Bancontact. Mollie lists a settlement delay of 2 to 3 business days. Integrations that used Payconiq payment links need updating: Bancontact Pro tells merchants that Payconiq is being decommissioned in Belgium and that they must move to new payment URLs to keep accepting Bancontact Pay and Wero, with the change rolling out to production from 11 May 2026. Bancontact froze prices for its merchants until the end of 2026.
How would Omno handle Bancontact?
- One checkout: Bancontact would appear in the Omno hosted checkout next to cards, wallets, other local methods and crypto. Merchants with their own payment screens would use Direct Links on their own buttons.
- Routing rules: The merchant would set rules by country, currency or amount that send Bancontact payments to a connected provider that supports the method. Omno connects through those providers; it is not an acquirer and does not hold funds.
- Cascading: In the hosted checkout, if the chosen provider is unavailable or rejects the request before the shopper is sent to the Bancontact page, the payment would move to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Status: The final result would reach the merchant by webhook.
What should merchants plan for?
Offer Bancontact to Belgian shoppers by name. Belgian debit cards run on Bancontact, so a checkout with only international card brands can miss them.
Plan subscriptions separately. Bancontact payments through Stripe are single use, so recurring charges need another method.
Tell shoppers about refunds. Because a refund arrives as an unlabelled credit, a short email when it is issued avoids confusion.
Check old Payconiq integrations. Merchants who took Payconiq payments directly should confirm they have moved to Bancontact Pro and the new payment URLs.
Decide on Wero separately. Wero is a new method in Belgium with its own banks and acquirers, so adding it is a separate choice from Bancontact.