YowPay is answering your questions

The instant transfer is about to lead to a revolution in our banking habits as it makes easier and faster transactions. Refunding a friend, paying an artisan or in a shop, buying a car ! the SEPA instant is availiable Europe in most of the banks

Common questions

  • We make it easy for you and your customers to exchange banking data. We create a unique QR code for you for each transaction, making it easier and faster for your customers to pay you with a transfer. If the customer's banking application is compatible with EPC QR codes, the payment takes only a few seconds. If the customer's banking application is not compatible, the customer will have to manually enter your banking information, the reference and the amount of the transaction (a copy/paste is possible and avoids input errors). If you have connected the YowPay application to your bank account, we will check for you that the transaction has been completed.

  • The acronym YOW comes from the English expression " Your Own Way " or " go Your Own Way ". The expression has also been used and hijacked in the world of surfing and boarding in general, but keeping the same meaning : " go Your Own Wave " (follow your own wave). How cool is that ?

  • No, We are only a facilitator of your payments via SEPA instant transfer. No financial flows pass through our services. All transfers are made from the client's bank interface to the recipient's (the beneficiary / merchant) account.

  • YowPay uses several Open Banking operators, companies under European licence, the only ones authorised to access customer account data.

    This data is provided on a read-only basis, no debit can be made from your account.

    YowPay does not store the data collected but only reconciles the transactions made via YowPay and the issuance of a QR code.

How it works?

  • To create your free YowPay account, all you need is a valid email address, your first and last name, your company name and a password.

    Then, you will need to fill in your IBAN and authorise the Open Banking connection to your account so that our service can verify the transactions.

  • Registration is free and we offer a 30-day trial period. After that, you will be charged €0.29 for verified transactions, regardless of the amount of the transfer.

Instant transfer

  • An instant transfer is a transfer that is processed immediately, 24/7, including nights, holidays and weekends.

    With an instant transfer, your money is in your beneficiary's account within seconds. If a friend or customer owes you money, you receive it in seconds, even if the person has an account with a different bank.

    The instant transfer was introduced by the European Central Bank with the aim of modernising and speeding up payment systems.

  • More and more. It was launched in 2018 and has only grown since then as a percentage of all transfers. In addition, many banks are now offering this type of transfer free of charge which will further accelerate its development and use.

    Some banks have even decided to use only instant transfers instead of standard transfers. We hope that this new method of bank transfer will develop widely all over Europe as it has only advantages!

  • There are many! In many situations, an instant transfer is extremely practical:

    - It allows you to *pay a bill quickly *share a bill with friends *pay for a good or service immediately

    - the instant transfer is secured by your bank (like a traditional transfer)

    - as a beneficiary, you have the money immediately on your account (in 10s!)

    - no outstanding payments. As with a credit card transaction, the transfer is irrevocable

    - the instant transfer allows you to pay sums up to a maximum of €100,000 (but each bank applies its own payment limit, generally around €15,000)

    - the instant transfer is available everywhere, all the time, 24/7, i.e. also at night, on public holidays and at weekends

    -The instant transfer does not require the tedious and costly opening of a VAD (distance selling) contract with your bank.

    Whether you are a private individual or a professional, it is in your interest to use the instant transfer solution with YowPay more and more.

  • The standard processing time for instant payments is less than 10 seconds. This processing time may vary slightly between banks but it is extremely fast and secure. This is defined by the EPC, the European Payments Council, the European body that defined the SEPA instant transfer standard.

    If one of the banks in the chain (debtor or creditor) is not compatible with instant transfers, this is not a problem, the transfer is credited like a classic transfer, either on the same day or the following day.

  • Technically, the system allows transfers of up to €100,000, but each bank applies different limits, in terms of amount (e.g. transfers may be limited to €5,000 or €15,000) and in terms of number (e.g. limited to 5 instant transfers per day)

  • This varies from bank to bank. Each bank decides for itself in which service package and at what price it wants to offer instant payment. However, with the democratisation of the instant transfer, many banks allow this type of transfer free of charge (sometimes with a limit on the number of transfers per day).

    We invite you to contact your bank to find out about the services and procedures related to instant transfers.

  • No, as with a standard transfer, the payment transaction is irrevocable. In the event of fraud or error, your bank will do everything in its power to recover your money, but it cannot guarantee that it will succeed. This is exactly the same as for a conventional transfer.

    For a merchant, it is very reassuring to know that the customer cannot oppose a transfer that he has made.

  • An instant transfer can be made from your computer, tablet or smartphone, from your banking interface (web or mobile application).

    Each bank offers its own management interface. As the transfer is made from your bank interface, it is totally secure.

    YowPay does not intervene in the transfer of the money which is carried out from bank to bank.

  • Probably, yes. In recent years, there is an increasing number of payment accounts that can send and receive instant transfers (nearly 50% of institutions in France, representing more than 90% of payment accounts), in France and in Europe.

    We invite you to ask your bank if it is compatible with SEPA instant transfers and if it offers free transfers!

Open Banking

  • Open Banking is a technology that allows banks to open up their customer data to a third party provider. This is based on the European PSD2 directive implemented in 2017. The aim of Open Banking is to allow value-added services to emerge on top of the banking services provided by banks to compete with the archaic banking system.

    As a result, third-party services such as YowPay can access your account balance and transaction list without touching the funds.

    To access bank accounts via the Open Banking provider, you need to grant authorisation on your account. Therefore, in YowPay, you are prompted to do so after entering your banking information.

    Open Banking requires you to revalidate your account access authorization every 3 months. It can also happen that banks cancel account access authorizations, which requires a reconnection.

Security

  • Yow (which publishes the YowPay service) is a company registered in Monaco.

    YowPay is not involved in the monetary exchange between a customer and the beneficiary. The transfer is made by a bank-to-bank transfer, fully secured by the banks themselves.

    Concerning the Open Banking access on the beneficiary accounts, YowPay has a read-only access of course (balance and list of transactions) and can in no case perform transactions for you.

    This Open Banking access is managed by a specialised service provider under European licence, the only ones authorised to access customer account data.

    Moreover, YowPay does not store the collected data but only reconciles the transactions made via YowPay and the issuance of a QR code.

  • No bank details are transmitted through YowPay. Transfers are made from bank to bank.

    We simply store the beneficiary's IBAN and account information in a secure database to generate the payment QR codes and also to manage the Open Banking connection.