Tikkie me for that Nando’s

Issue 621: 6 June 2024

Tikkie me for that Nando’s

Payment systems are vital to an economy and play a remarkable role in ensuring that payment for the goods and services we all consume are efficient, safe, resilient and friction-free.

One remaining area of payment friction is often asking someone for some money to settle up for a meal out or after a night on the town. Having asked for the money you then have to provide your bank details and hope that your friend will then get it together to send the money from their bank account.

In the UK we might have said goodbye to Paym but if we take a short trip across the North Sea we can see how the Dutch have solved a way to “pay ‘em” – with a Tikkie and integration with the iDEAL e-commerce payment system.

Contributing to a high chair for a baby shower, sorting out a bill at Nando’s or splitting up the costs of a weekend away can be a real pain. The residents of the Netherlands have been presented with an antidote to this pain – in the form of ABN Amro’s “Tikkie” - a free app for iPhone and Android. It’s a convenient way of sending payment requests to family or friends.

The app’s available to anyone with a bank account in the Netherlands. Tikkie may have been created by ABN AMRO, but all Dutch banking customers are welcome to use it and it is free to use!

The aim of the Tikkie app is that consumers send a payment request (processed via iDEAL and the users own bank) via a WhatsApp message.

Tikkie is a popular mobile payment app developed by the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. It allows users to easily request and send payments through a link shared via messaging apps like WhatsApp, SMS, or email.

Tikkie offers:

• Payment Requests: Users can create a payment request specifying the amount of money they need to receive. The app generates a link that can be shared with the person who needs to make the payment.

• Ease of Use: The recipient of the link does not need to have the Tikkie app installed. They can complete the payment using their own banking app or through an online payment portal.

• Integration: Tikkie supports integration with various banking systems and is widely used in the Netherlands for both personal and small business transactions.

• Free Service: For individual users, Tikkie is free of charge, which contributes to its popularity.

• Business Use: Tikkie also offers solutions for businesses, allowing them to send payment requests to customers and streamline payment processes.

Tikkie provides a simple and convenient way to manage small-scale financial transactions among individuals and small businesses and has seen success in the Netherlands.

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Wherever and whenever

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According to Nelleke Harmse (Tikkie’s first lead digital product designer) the journey to 6 million users took just three years and, remarkably, was accelerated through the influence of American actor, singer and television personality David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff.

Between its launch in 2014 and the summer of 2022 the Tikkie user base had grown to 8 million active users and the system had processed 16 billion transactions since launch.

In 2022, Roger Brinker from Tikkie said “our Tikkie app recorded eight million users this summer. We’re very proud that Tikkie has become part of everyday life for half the country, totalling 16 billion euros worth of payments since day one. You can simply settle up with a Tikkie. So, the good times you shared can end on a good note too.”

There are now (2024) nine million users (almost 50% of the population), 25,000 companies use Tikkie and every day 200,000 payments are made a day via Tikkie.

On this basis it is not surprising that the work “Tikkie” is now included in the Van Dale dictionary.

All you need to send a payment request is the Tikkie app on your smartphone and a Dutch bank account. You don’t even have to install the app to pay a request that you receive.

Creating a payment request is easy using the Tikkie app. Enter the amount and what it’s for, then share the payment link via WhatsApp, text message, email or however you like.

Since launch Tikkie has seen a number of enhancements including ‘Groepie’, a smart feature that allows multiple users to track and settle costs incurred as a group, greatly simplifying group payments made through Tikkie.