How does a Keepz payment work?
The payer scans a Keepz QR code with their phone camera, or follows a payment link, and a payment page opens in the browser. There is no app to install and no account to create. On that page the payer chooses how to pay: a bank card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, online banking or a crypto wallet. With pay by bank, Keepz uses its open banking permissions to start the payment from the payer’s bank account, and the payer confirms it in their own banking app. The merchant gets the result, and Keepz says the funds reach the merchant’s bank account in real time.
For an online merchant, the same flow works as a QR code on desktop, which the payer scans with a phone, or as a link that opens straight on mobile. Payments are in Georgian lari.
How widely is Keepz used?
Keepz is growing but still small. Most Georgians bank with Bank of Georgia or TBC Bank and pay online with cards from those banks, often through Apple Pay or Google Pay on the bank’s payment page. Bank of Georgia alone reported more than 1.8 million retail digital monthly active users at the end of 2025. Keepz has not published a recent user figure. In February 2025 its chief executive told Georgia Today that about 20,000 merchants and more than 100,000 payers had used it. Keepz is a useful extra method for shoppers who prefer QR or pay by bank, not a replacement for cards.
Why does Keepz matter for merchants?
It is the first fintech route to pay by bank in Georgia. The National Bank of Georgia’s open banking registry lists LLC Keepz Payment System as an authorised account information and payment initiation provider, approved on 12 July 2024. It was the first non-bank on the list. By August 2026 nine more non-bank providers had joined it. In September 2024 the National Bank, the Banking Association and Keepz carried out the first live open banking transfer in the country.
Keepz has since moved into bank-to-bank infrastructure. In October 2025 it launched 24/7 instant transfers between participating banks, starting with Silk Bank, Tera Bank, Pasha Bank Georgia, Credo Bank and Basis Bank. In December 2025 the National Bank granted it a payment system operator licence, making it the third licensed operator in Georgia after two owned by the largest banks. The National Bank is also building its own instant payment system, which it has said would become operational in 2026.
Pay by bank gives merchants a route that does not depend on card acquiring. It can cost less than card payments, the payer does not type card details, and the payer authenticates with their own bank.
What can go wrong?
Most problems are flow problems rather than declines. A payer may scan the code on desktop and then abandon the payment on the phone, or leave the banking app before confirming. QR codes and payment links should expire clearly so that late payments do not arrive against cancelled orders. Pay by bank also depends on the payer’s bank being connected through open banking and on that bank’s own limits.
Refunds work differently from cards. A pay-by-bank payment is a transfer from the payer’s account, so a refund is a separate payment back rather than a reversal, and how it is triggered depends on the provider. There is no card-style chargeback on a bank transfer, but payments made with the card option keep normal card rules. Keepz is published as a way to collect money, so payouts to sellers or customers need another route.
How does Omno handle Keepz?
Omno connects to Keepz through payment providers. The hosted checkout shows Keepz as a separate method next to cards, with a QR code on desktop and a direct link on mobile, and merchants with their own checkout use Direct Links. Eligibility rules decide who sees it, for example only shoppers in Georgia paying in lari. Routing rules set by the merchant choose the provider. In the hosted checkout, if that provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts. The final result arrives by webhook, which is the source of truth for confirming an order, and the routing-decision log records which provider handled each payment.