Card payments have dominated online and in‑person commerce for years. But as fees rise, chargebacks increase and customers hit card limits, a growing number of merchants are looking for a faster, cheaper, more controllable alternative. That is where Instant SEPA transfers and account‑to‑account payments come in.
YowPay is a merchant payment solution built to make Instant SEPA transfers as convenient as card payments, without the usual friction of traditional bank transfers. By combining EPC QR Code, Open Banking / PIS and manual transfers with smart routing and turnkey Instant Business SEPA IBANs, YowPay helps European businesses unlock a powerful new payment rail alongside their existing methods.
The result is simple but transformative: fewer abandoned carts, lower costs, instant settlement and no rolling reserves– all while keeping your customers' banking data highly secure.
Why card‑only payments may be holding your business back
Cards will continue to be important, but relying on them alone increasingly creates unnecessary friction for both merchants and customers. Common issues include:
- Abandoned carts when customers do not want to use cards online, have reached their limits or do not trust sharing card details.
- High processing costs from percentage‑based card fees that eat directly into your margin.
- Chargebacks and disputes that consume time and resources, and can be particularly painful in higher‑risk verticals.
- Settlement delays and rolling reserves that keep your money locked up, slowing down cash flow and growth.
At the same time, European consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable paying directly from their bank accounts, especially as Instant SEPA becomes widely available. The opportunity is clear: give customers a fast, secure way to pay directly from their bank – while keeping the checkout experience as smooth as a card.
What is Instant SEPA and why does it matter for merchants?
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is the scheme that standardises euro bank transfers across much of Europe.SEPA Instant Credit Transfer takes this one step further by allowing euro payments to move between participating banks in near real time, typically within seconds, 24/7.
For merchants, Instant SEPA offers several important advantages:
- Speed– funds can arrive in your business account within seconds of payment confirmation.
- Availability– instant transfers are designed to work around the clock, not just during banking hours.
- Reach– the SEPA area covers a wide range of European countries and banks, giving you broad access to customers across Europe.
- Cost efficiency– bank‑to‑bank transfers can often be more economical than card transactions, particularly on higher‑value baskets.
Historically, however, merchants have struggled to turn bank transfers into a practical checkout option. Manual data entry, reconciliation headaches and a poor user experience have all stood in the way. YowPay is designed specifically to remove these hurdles.
Meet YowPay: Instant SEPA transfers made merchant‑friendly
YowPay bridges the gap between Instant SEPA and day‑to‑day commerce. It enables businesses to accept Instant SEPA transfers alongside traditional payment methods, making account‑to‑account payments a natural part of your payment mix rather than an operational burden.
At its core, YowPay combines three key elements:
- Multiple SEPA payment initiation options– EPC QR Code, Open Banking / PIS and manual transfers.
- Smart routing– automatic optimisation based on the customer's bank and preferred way to pay.
- Instant Business SEPA IBANs (Belgium / France)– dedicated payment accounts provided via a regulated European e‑money issuer, with instant settlement and funds available for immediate payouts.
On top of this, YowPay offers both simple e‑commerce integration and a mobile point‑of‑sale app, so you can use the same payment logic across your online store and physical locations.
Three ways customers can pay – one optimised flow
Every customer has a different relationship with their bank and their devices. YowPay recognises this and supports three main ways to pay by Instant SEPA transfer:
- EPC QR Code
Customers simply scan a QR code generated at checkout using their mobile banking app. All payment details are pre‑filled for them. They just confirm the transfer and the payment is on its way. - Open Banking / Payment Initiation Service (PIS)
Customers select their bank from a list, authenticate via their usual online banking and approve a pre‑configured transfer. The process is guided and familiar, reducing friction. - Manual transfer
For customers who prefer to enter details themselves or whose bank does not support the first two methods, YowPay presents the relevant IBAN and reference so they can complete the transfer manually from their own banking interface.
Behind the scenes, YowPay uses smart routing to offer the most suitable option based on the customer's context, helping to maximise conversion while keeping the payment journey intuitive.
Instant Business SEPA IBANs for Belgium and France
A major advantage of YowPay is its turnkey provision of Instant Business SEPA IBANs in Belgium and France through a regulated European e‑money issuer. These IBANs sit at the heart of your YowPay setup and are used to receive incoming SEPA transfers.
- Dedicated IBANs for inflows– ideal for separating e‑commerce collections, B2B payments or card processing settlement into their own accounts.
- Instant settlement– funds arrive directly in your business IBAN, not into an intermediary wallet.
- Immediate availability for payouts– you can use the received funds for payouts without waiting for a settlement cycle or managing rolling reserves.
Crucially, YowPay itself is not a bank and not an e‑wallet. It facilitates SEPA Instant transfer payments and provides the technology and business payment accounts via a regulated partner, but the financial flows pass directly between banks.
Key benefits of YowPay for SMEs and larger merchants
Whether you run a growing online shop, a services business or a multi‑channel retail operation, YowPay is designed to deliver tangible impact on your revenue, costs and cash flow.
1. Capture more sales with a trusted alternative to cards
Many customers would happily pay directly from their bank account instead of using a card – especially when:
- their credit card is close to its limit,
- they prefer not to enter card details online, or
- they associate bank transfers with more control over their spending.
By offering Instant SEPA transfers at checkout, with a smooth flow powered by QR codes and Open Banking, you can keep these customers in the funnel instead of losing them at the payment step.
Merchants using YowPay have reported:
- recovering sales that would previously have been lost when cards were declined or customers dropped out, and
- seeing turnover return closer to expected levels after introducing a bank transfer option tailored to their industry.
2. Lower transaction costs and reduce chargeback exposure
Card payments are convenient, but their percentage‑based pricing can become expensive, particularly for high‑value tickets or low‑margin goods.
Because YowPay is built on account‑to‑account transfers, it can:
- help reduce your average cost per transaction by shifting part of your volume away from cards, and
- limit exposure to chargebacks, since SEPA credit transfers are push payments initiated by the customer.
Some merchants have highlighted significant savings by routing part of their traffic through YowPay instead of exclusively through traditional card schemes, freeing up budget to reinvest in marketing and growth.
3. Improve cash flow with instant settlement and no rolling reserves
Healthy cash flow is crucial, especially for SMEs. Waiting days for card settlements or dealing with rolling reserves can constrain your ability to invest in stock, staff or promotion.
With YowPay, funds arrive instantly in your dedicated business IBANs when customers pay via Instant SEPA, and they are immediately available for payouts. There is no need to wait for your PSP to release funds on a fixed schedule or after reserve periods.
One SME using YowPay has reported saving around 30,000 euros per year by combining lower payment costs with the efficiencies of using mobile phones as POS terminals and reducing reliance on traditional card processing infrastructure.
4. Increase trust with strong security and protected banking data
Security and trust sit at the centre of YowPay's design. The solution is structured so that:
- YowPay facilitates the exchange of banking data between you and your customers without funds flowing through YowPay itself.
- Your business payment account is opened with a regulated European electronic money issuer, giving you the reassurance of a supervised institution behind your account.
- Funds can only be withdrawn from your payment account to pre‑approved payout accounts, such as your company or group entities.
- Two‑factor authentication is used to verify that transactions are authorised, adding another layer of protection.
For your customers, this means they can pay via their own bank, with their usual authentication steps, without sharing sensitive card details at checkout. For you, it means payment flows with a strong security posture baked in.
How YowPay works in practice
From a merchant's perspective, YowPay is designed to be straightforward to adopt. The experience typically looks like this.
Step 1: The customer chooses to pay by bank transfer
At checkout – whether online or in person – the customer sees yowpay pay by bank or a similar option alongside cards and any other payment methods you offer.
When they select it, YowPay presents the most appropriate initiation method:
- scan an EPC QR code with their mobile banking app,
- choose their bank and follow the Open Banking / PIS flow, or
- enter transfer details manually if they prefer.
Step 2: The customer confirms the payment from their bank
The customer reviews the pre‑filled transfer details within their banking environment and confirms the payment. Because they are using their own bank, with familiar authentication, trust is naturally higher and the experience feels secure.
Step 3: You receive the funds instantly in your business IBAN
As soon as the Instant SEPA transfer is processed by the banks, the funds arrive in your YowPay Business IBAN (Belgium or France, depending on your setup). The payment is confirmed and the transaction can be reconciled automatically.
Crucially, the funds are immediately available for you to use – whether that is paying suppliers, staff or simply holding working capital – without waiting for a settlement run.
Online and in‑person: one solution for multiple channels
YowPay is built for unified commerce, enabling you to use the same Instant SEPA engine across both e‑commerce and point‑of‑sale.
E‑commerce integration
YowPay offers simple integration with your existing online store. Once connected, you can present Instant SEPA as a payment option in your checkout flow, while keeping the look and feel aligned with your brand.
This is particularly valuable if you:
- serve customers across the SEPA area,
- sell higher‑ticket items where card limits become a barrier, or
- want to reduce dependence on a single card acquirer by diversifying payment routes.
Mobile point‑of‑sale app
For in‑person payments, YowPay provides a mobile point‑of‑sale (mPOS) app that allows your sales team to accept payments directly from their smartphones. Instead of relying solely on traditional POS terminals, they can generate QR codes or initiate payment flows on the go.
Some merchants have reported that rolling out YowPay's mobile app allowed them to replace a portion of their physical POS terminals, creating meaningful annual savings while keeping the payment experience quick and professional for customers.
Real‑world impact: what merchants are seeing
The most compelling proof of any payment solution is the impact it has on real businesses. Feedback from YowPay users highlights several recurring themes:
- Recovered turnover in sectors where changes to card schemes had previously led to reduced sales.
- Significant cost reductions by shifting a share of volume from cards to Instant SEPA, and cutting back on traditional POS hardware.
- Fewer chargeback concerns thanks to the use of push payments instead of pull‑based card transactions.
- Operational simplicity from having a single solution that covers both online and on‑site payments.
One director described discovering how much business they were losing by relying only on cards, and how YowPay helped them both increase turnover and cut costs once they added Instant SEPA transfers to their payment mix.
Another merchant reported achieving end‑of‑year revenue back in line with expectations, while also reducing processing costs by relying more on YowPay's fixed‑fee model and less on percentage‑based card fees.
An SME highlighted that implementing YowPay was almost instantaneous at their physical locations, with sales staff using mobile phones as POS devices and achieving around 30,000 euros in annual savings, which they could then reinvest in promotion.
From demo to deployment: getting started with YowPay
YowPay is designed to be accessible, not just for large enterprises with big tech teams but also for SMEs looking for a practical, scalable solution.
- Short, focused demo– in around 20 minutes you can see how Instant SEPA transfers work for both e‑commerce and point‑of‑sale, what smart routing looks like and how dedicated IBANs are used.
- Configuration of your Business IBANs– once onboarded, you receive your Instant Business SEPA IBANs (BE / FR) via YowPay's regulated e‑money partner.
- Lightweight integration– connect YowPay to your online store or billing system, and deploy the mobile POS app for your teams on site.
- Go live and optimise– start accepting Instant SEPA transfers, monitor how customers adopt the new option and adjust your checkout messaging to highlight the benefits.
Because the solution sits alongside your existing payment methods, you can add YowPay gradually, test results and scale up as you see the impact on conversion, costs and cash flow.
Is YowPay right for your payment mix?
YowPay is particularly well suited to merchants who:
- sell to customers across the SEPA area,
- handle medium‑to‑high‑value transactions where card limits or fees are a concern,
- want to diversify away from total dependence on card schemes,
- value instant settlement and predictable cash flow, and
- need a solution that works both online and in person.
If your business fits this profile, enabling Instant SEPA transfers via YowPay can turn bank payments from a slow, manual back‑office process into a high‑converting, low‑cost, real‑time payment channel.
By combining EPC QR Code, Open Banking / PIS and manual transfers with smart routing, Instant Business SEPA IBANs and easy‑to‑use e‑commerce and mPOS tools, YowPay offers a compelling way to expand your payment options, delight customers and free up more of your revenue to fuel growth.
If you are ready to explore faster, cheaper, account‑to‑account payments for your business, it may be the right moment to bring Instant SEPA transfers into your payment strategy with YowPay.
