Irish banks pull plug on Synch mobile payment app

In January 2021 four of Irelands largest banks joined forces to launch a mobile payment app, dubbed Synch, that they intended to promote to help fend off the threat posed by new payments platforms, such as Revolut and other Neo banks.

                 Irish banks pull plug on Synch

Later that month, the proposed venture hit a regulatory block, as the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) pushed back their application to set up a joint venture because they did not provide enough information.

In July 2023 there were further problems that beset the app, after the JV behind the initiative was told it needed clearance under EU rules.

Out of Synch

Today, the three remaining banks have abandoned plans to set up Synch due to these setbacks and drift in the three years since it was announced.

“Synch Payments DAC, the Irish instant mobile account to account payments service, today announced that following a careful and considered review of its business plan, it has reached the difficult decision that it is no longer feasible to launch its payments app, Yippay, into the Irish market and Synch will cease operations,” said a spokeswoman for Synch.

“A combination of factors has contributed to an elongated time frame to launch which makes the original Synch proposition no longer viable.”

It is thought that a combination of factors, including the ECB’s recent decision to proceed with the next phase of a plan to introduce a digital euro was part of the decision.

A digital euro is destined to shake up the industry, enabling people in the euro zone to make electronic payments securely and free of charge.

The ECB said last month it would start a two-year “preparation phase” for the digital euro on November 1st, in which it would finalise rules, choose its private-sector partners and do some “testing and experimentation”.

The Irish banks say they went about exploring “alternative” options and business models to bring Synch to market without having to go through onerous authorisation processes with the Central Bank – clearly this did not work out as intended.