How does iDEAL work for online payments?
iDEAL is an authenticated bank transfer. The shopper picks iDEAL | Wero at checkout and the merchant’s page sends them to the iDEAL payment page. There they choose their bank, or scan an iDEAL QR code, and approve the payment in their banking app or online banking with a second factor of authentication. The exact screens depend on the bank. Stripe’s documentation says the merchant gets immediate notification of whether the payment succeeded or failed, so the order can be confirmed straight away.
The shopper needs nothing beyond internet or mobile banking with a participating bank. There is no separate iDEAL account to register. Since 2025 the bank list no longer sits on the merchant’s own page: Currence required merchants to replace their bank selection lists with a single iDEAL button by 31 March 2025, and began monitoring for merchants that had not done so from 1 April 2025. Since April 2024 shoppers can also create an iDEAL profile, which stores their payment preferences and delivery details with their bank and shares the address with a shop only with their permission.
A single iDEAL payment does not set up future charges. For subscriptions, Stripe uses the first iDEAL payment to set up SEPA Direct Debit for the later charges.
Where and how do shoppers use iDEAL?
iDEAL is a Netherlands method, paid in euros from Dutch bank accounts. Currence said in April 2024 that about 1.3 billion payments run through iDEAL each year and that it covers 73% of online purchases in the Netherlands. The Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor, which Currence co-commissions, put its share of online purchases at 69% in the third quarter of 2022 and 73% a year later. When EPI bought iDEAL in 2023, it said iDEAL processed about 3.5 million transactions a day. Beyond web shops, iDEAL is used for energy bills, donations, phone top-ups, payment requests, municipal taxes and traffic fines.
The method is in the middle of a planned move to Wero. EPI, the European Payments Initiative, completed its purchase of Currence iDEAL and of Payconiq International on 31 October 2023. In October 2025 Currence announced a phased transition. First, from early 2026, the iDEAL logo was replaced by a combined iDEAL | Wero logo in shops, banking apps and payment pages. Stripe set the mandatory co-branding window from 29 January to 31 March 2026 and warned that missing it could lead to iDEAL being deactivated on an account. Second comes a gradual technical migration of transactions to the Wero platform, which starts only once De Nederlandsche Bank approves it. Finally, Wero becomes the only name shoppers see and purchase protection is added.
In July 2026 EPI and the Dutch Payments Association said the first phase had been successful. Their plan was for all Dutch banks to be connected to Wero by October 2026, after which iDEAL | Wero payments move step by step to the Wero infrastructure. Banks and payment providers aim to finish the migration by 31 December 2027 at the latest, and the parties target full coverage of purchase protection by 1 January 2028. Stripe expects merchants to start offering Wero from the fourth quarter of 2026 and estimates that iDEAL will stop operating between 2027 and 2028. Shoppers keep paying through their own bank throughout.
What rules and costs should merchants know?
Shoppers cannot charge back an iDEAL payment. Stripe’s documentation says customers cannot dispute iDEAL | Wero payments with their bank and should contact the merchant directly with any concerns. Refunds are supported in full and in part: Stripe allows them up to 180 days after the original payment, and a refund can stay pending for up to seven days before it is treated as successful if no failure is reported.
The scheme sets website rules. A merchant based in the Netherlands must show its KVK number from the Chamber of Commerce on its website, and a merchant elsewhere must show its registration number with the equivalent local body. On Stripe, a connected account’s name must be its real business name, because shoppers see it during the payment. Stripe also restricts some categories from iDEAL, including adult content, weapons, peer-to-peer money transfers, payment facilitators, contracts for difference, NFTs and donation-based crowdfunding.
On cost, EPI says Wero scheme pricing will stay broadly aligned with the current iDEAL | Wero level until 31 December 2028. Provider fees for merchants depend on each provider’s pricing. De Nederlandsche Bank oversees both iDEAL and Wero.
How would Omno handle iDEAL?
- One checkout: iDEAL | Wero would appear in the Omno hosted checkout next to cards, wallets, other local methods and crypto, under its current co-branded name. 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 iDEAL 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 bank, 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?
Plan the switch to Wero. Ask each provider when it will support Wero for Dutch shoppers and how it will move existing iDEAL traffic. Stripe suggests testing Wero against iDEAL from the fourth quarter of 2026 and making a clean cut-over in 2027.
Keep the branding current. The checkout should show iDEAL | Wero now, and later the Wero name alone, as the scheme and the providers require.
Handle complaints directly. With no chargeback route, a shopper with a problem comes to the merchant, so a clear refund policy and quick refunds matter. Purchase protection will arrive with the full Wero rollout.
Use SEPA Direct Debit for subscriptions for now. Stripe expects Wero subscriptions to launch in 2027.
Show the company registration number on the website, as the scheme rules require.