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points by Freak_NL 1 day ago | 0 comments
The Dutch do nothing but use Ideal, Wero's predecessor, for online purchases. People very much want to simply transfer money from their bank to a shop, just as they can with a debit card. Most Wero transfers will be to shops in your own country, but don't underestimate its potential. Valve offers Ideal on Steam, and has done so for years now, and they can probably give some very appealing insights into how that unlocked a massive amount of gamers in the Netherlands.
[–] carlosjobim 1 day ago
Nobody is worried that Valve isn't going to deliver what you purchase on Steam. Likewise few people are worried that they're going to be scammed by a well recognized national brand. That's why I specifically mentioned cross-country online shopping, where methods like Wero which offer no benefit at all to customers will have difficulties finding success. Unless there's a massive media campaign to tell people what they should do.
[–] Freak_NL 1 day ago
Shopping online beyond the national borders is a fraction of all shopping done online, and when it is done, people gravitate to big platforms like Amazon or Steam.

What Wero will do, is allow a German citizen to order stuff in a German shop, and an Italian citizen to order stuff in an Italian shop first and foremost. After that, it will allow them to pay for stuff on Vinted (people already buy second hand clothes across borders this way!) or Steam.

It will also make buying stuff in different European countries easier, but that is only a tiny percentage. The winners here are citizens being able to shop around further, and shops with dedicated national versions of their store to sell stuff easily to citizens in whichever country they decide to port their shop to (in addition to simply serving those who are fine with their shop in English or another language).

If you only know credit cards, you won't see the benefit, but Europe is predominantly a place of debit cards and local payment methods.

[–] carlosjobim 1 day ago
The comment I originally replied to and the one I originally wrote concerns cross-border online payments only. As I initially mentioned, Wero could be good or even great for other uses. But almost all European countries already have their own similar systems for instant bank transfers, and have had them for about a decade now.

> It will also make buying stuff in different European countries easier, but that is only a tiny percentage.

Why and how? It's already extremely easy and online shopping is mature and accessible across borders.

> If you only know credit cards, you won't see the benefit, but Europe is predominantly a place of debit cards and local payment methods.

Debit cards have exactly the same advantages as credit cards. Most importantly purchase protection, which bank transfers don't have.