What iDEAL is
iDEAL is the Dutch online payment method. The buyer picks their bank and approves the payment in their banking app or online banking, and the merchant gets an immediate payment guarantee, so the order can ship straight away. The money itself moves as a SEPA Credit Transfer.
It began in webshops and now also pays bills, invoices and donations, through payment links and QR codes. Since 31 October 2023 it has belonged to the European Payments Initiative (EPI), the company behind Wero, and it is moving onto Wero in phases: payments have carried the iDEAL | Wero name since early 2026, and the parties involved aim to complete the migration by 31 December 2027. Merchants offer it through an acquirer or a collecting payment service provider, which is how our checkout module connects to it.
What it does in your platform
Checkout
Lets Dutch buyers pay from their own bank account on every merchant's hosted checkout. The payment runs through your payment provider, and the guarantee arrives in time for the merchant to confirm the order at once.
How the connection works
iDEAL reaches the checkout through a payment provider that offers it: an acquirer or a collecting payment service provider. The checkout module talks to that provider's API, and the provider connects to iDEAL.
The buyer picks iDEAL
On the merchant's hosted checkout. The module asks your payment provider to start an iDEAL payment for the amount, in euros.
To their own bank
The buyer goes on to approve the payment with their bank. On a phone that is their banking app; on a computer they can scan a QR code.
The buyer approves
They confirm the payment in their own bank's environment, which they already know.
The merchant is guaranteed
iDEAL gives the merchant an immediate payment guarantee, and the buyer comes back to the checkout's confirmation page.
Your provider confirms
Your payment provider reports the result to the module, which marks the order paid and shows it in the backoffice.
The money arrives
The funds move as a SEPA Credit Transfer and reach the merchant through your payment provider's settlement, matched in the ledger.
Next to other payment methods
iDEAL sits in the checkout's bank payments, next to Bancontact for Belgium, BLIK for Poland and open banking payments through TrueLayer, Tink or Yapily. Buyers pay with the method they trust, and each method runs through the provider that offers it.
When iDEAL becomes Wero, the change runs through banks and payment providers. Your merchants integrated once with the checkout, so a new connector or a change of provider happens on the platform, not in their integration or your apps.
When iDEAL fits best
A strong fit when
- Your merchants sell to buyers in the Netherlands, who are used to paying online straight from their bank.
- You want payments confirmed with a guarantee, so orders can ship straight away.
- Your merchants also collect invoices and bills, which iDEAL covers with payment links.
Also worth a look
- Open banking payments through TrueLayer, Tink or Yapily, for bank payments in other countries.
- Cards and wallets, for buyers outside the Netherlands.
How we get you live
The payment provider
We help you switch iDEAL on with your payment provider, or choose a provider that offers it if yours does not.
The payment page
We set up iDEAL in the checkout with you: the iDEAL | Wero branding, the merchants who offer it and the pages buyers return to.
The keys
Your payment provider's API keys and webhook secret go into your platform's secrets and nowhere else.
A full test run
The whole flow runs in your payment provider's test environment, from the checkout to the backoffice, before your first real payment.
