In short: iDEAL is being absorbed into Wero, the European payment system built by the banks. Since January 29, 2026 the combined logo has appeared in Dutch checkouts, from April 2026 transactions are moving step by step to the Wero platform, and in Q4 2026 the rollout to merchants begins. By the end of 2027 iDEAL disappears. Your PSP handles the technology, you handle checkout, bookkeeping and communication.
The timeline from iDEAL to Wero
iDEAL has been the standard for online payments in the Netherlands since 2005: more than 70% of all online purchases and over 1 billion transactions a year. A brand like that does not vanish overnight. The transition is deliberately spread over 2 years, so consumers get used to it and online stores do not all have to rebuild at the same time.
| When | What happens | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| October 2023 | EPI acquires Currence iDEAL and Payconiq | Nothing |
| 2024 | Wero goes live in Germany, Belgium and France for person-to-person payments | Nothing |
| 2025 | Wero available for online payments in Belgium and Germany | Nothing |
| January 29, 2026 | Combined iDEAL and Wero logo appears in Dutch checkouts | Check that your PSP shows the new logo |
| April 2026 | Transactions are moved step by step to the Wero platform in the background | Monitor payment failures and settlements |
| Q4 2026 | Rollout to merchants: new integrations, contracts and access to Wero | Update PSP contract, checkout, bookkeeping and copy |
| 2027 | First online stores move over completely, iDEAL is phased out gradually | Migrate and test |
| December 31, 2027 | iDEAL is switched off | Be ready |
The dates come from iDEAL and EPI themselves and may shift slightly per PSP and per bank. We update this article every quarter.
What Wero is and why European banks are building it
Wero is the payment solution of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a joint venture of major European banks and payment providers, including ING, Rabobank and ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, KBC and the German Sparkassen. EPI was founded in 2020 with 1 goal: a European alternative to the American card networks and wallets, so that paying in Europe does not depend on Visa, Mastercard, Apple and PayPal.
Technically Wero is an account-to-account payment built on SEPA Instant: the money moves within seconds straight from the customer's bank account to the merchant's, with no card network in between. That is exactly what iDEAL has done for 20 years, but now Europe-wide. A consumer from Belgium, Germany, France or Luxembourg will soon pay in your online store with their own banking app, as naturally as a Dutch customer does with iDEAL.
That is why EPI bought Currence iDEAL and Payconiq in 2023: instead of building a new system from scratch, the best-performing payment scheme in Europe becomes the foundation of the European one. For Dutch online stores that is good news. The familiar behavior stays, the reach grows.
What changes in your checkout
For the customer little seems to change in 2026: they pick the familiar button, choose their bank or get sent to their banking app, and approve the payment. Under the hood and around the edges, things do change:
- Logo and name. Since January 2026 the combined logo, later Wero only. Every place that says 'iDEAL', from the payment button to the confirmation email, has to follow.
- Flow. On mobile the app switch to the banking app or the Wero app becomes the default, on desktop the QR code. The bank selection list eventually disappears.
- Profile. What iDEAL started with its fast-checkout profile, Wero continues: a profile with address and preferences, so a customer checks out at a new online store with 1 approval.
- Buyer protection. EPI is working on a form of buyer protection for online purchases. That is new compared to iDEAL and lowers the barrier for first purchases at unfamiliar shops.
- Recurring payments. Wero is built for subscriptions and pay-by-account, functions that iDEAL only supported through workarounds.
- Reach. Customers from Germany, Belgium, France and Luxembourg can pay with Wero. If you export, you gain a payment method without an extra contract.
What your PSP already handles
Almost no online store talks to the banks directly. Your PSP (Mollie, Adyen, Pay.nl, Buckaroo, MultiSafepay, Worldline or Rabo Smart Pay) does. Those parties sit close to EPI and handle most of the migration:
- the technical connection to the Wero platform and the transfer of transactions;
- showing the right logo and payment flow in their hosted checkout and plugins;
- the payout to your account and the reporting;
- the contractual side: in most cases an addendum to your existing agreement, sometimes a fresh activation of Wero as a payment method.
What your PSP does not do for you: your own copy, your accounting integration, your email templates, your custom code and your customer service. That is where the work is for you. Also note the difference between a hosted checkout (the customer pays on the PSP's page) and an API integration (you display the payment methods yourself). In the second case you will probably get a new method id, new webhook statuses and an updated logo pack in Q4 2026.
Checklist for Shopify, WooCommerce and custom builds
Shopify. Shopify Payments and the Mollie and Adyen apps show whatever payment methods the PSP delivers. After every update, check that the Wero logo appears, adjust payment method names in your theme and update the confirmation emails and the payment methods page. More on the platform in Shopify vs WooCommerce.
WooCommerce. The PSP plugin (Mollie, Pay.nl, Buckaroo, MultiSafepay) handles the method. Update the plugin as soon as the Wero version ships, check whether your bank selection list in the checkout is still needed and test the payment flow on mobile. Look through custom checkout code for hard-coded strings such as 'ideal'.
Custom or headless. Here you have to do the work yourself: new method id in the API call, new statuses in your webhooks, new logos in your components, updated tests. Plan an afternoon for the build and a morning for testing.
For everyone, regardless of platform:
- Bookkeeping. Matching rules in Exact Online, AFAS, Moneybird or e-Boekhouden that match on 'iDEAL' in the description break as soon as it says 'Wero'. Add both rules now.
- Customer communication. Confirmation emails, invoices, the payment methods page, the FAQ and the terms and conditions.
- Marketing. Trust badges in the footer, payment logos in ads and on marketplaces.
- Customer service. A standard answer to the question 'where did iDEAL go'.
- Monitoring. A dashboard with payment conversion per method, so you spot a drop in the first week instead of after a quarter.
RABZI estimate: a Wero check of your checkout (payment methods, PSP settings, logos, accounting integration, emails and a test on 3 devices) is covered for our maintenance clients within Care Pro from €249 per month. For a new or rebuilt online store, with Wero configured correctly from day 1, ecommerce development at RABZI starts at €7,500 excl. VAT (Launch) and from €14,500 for Growth with a custom theme, integrations and B2B. What that includes is in what an online store costs.
Conversion: how to keep trust during the transition
Payment methods are trust signals. A customer who does not see their favourite button drops out, even if the alternative does technically the same thing. During the 2026 and 2027 transition, recognizability is everything:
- Explain it once, briefly. One line at the payment choice: 'iDEAL is now called Wero, you pay as usual through your banking app.' Nothing more.
- Put Wero where iDEAL was. At the top, as the first option, with the logo. Do not reorder anything else in the same period.
- Keep the alternatives visible. Credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay and buy-now-pay-later catch the hesitant. Remove nothing during the transition.
- Test on mobile. More than 70% of payments in retail and e-commerce happen on the phone. The app switch has to return to your thank-you page in 1 go.
- Measure per method. Payment conversion (started versus completed) per payment method, per week. A 3 percentage point drop on Wero is a signal to call your PSP.
Those who get it right come out ahead. Wero brings buyer protection, a faster flow for returning customers and reach in 4 neighbouring countries. That is more than iDEAL ever offered.
Frequently asked questions
Is iDEAL really being discontinued? Yes. According to the plans of iDEAL and EPI, iDEAL will be switched off at the end of 2027 and Wero will be its sole successor. The transition runs in phases: the combined logo since January 2026, transactions through the Wero platform from April 2026, rollout to merchants from Q4 2026.
Do I need to do anything to my online store right now? Major changes only come in Q4 2026, when your PSP offers the new integration and contracts. What to do now: check that the combined logo is displayed, set the matching rules in your bookkeeping to both iDEAL and Wero, and take stock of your copy and emails.
Can foreign customers pay with Wero in my online store? Yes, that is one of the advantages. Consumers in Germany, Belgium, France and Luxembourg pay with Wero from their own banking app, without you having to add an extra contract or payment method. For online stores that export, that is a direct improvement of the checkout.
What does Wero cost per transaction? Your PSP sets the rates, just as with iDEAL. The expectation is that costs stay comparable to current iDEAL rates of a few tens of cents per transaction. Ask your PSP for the rate in writing as soon as the Wero contracts are offered in Q4 2026.
Conclusion
iDEAL becomes Wero, and that is less dramatic than it sounds. Your PSP handles the technology, the flow stays familiar for your customer and you gain buyer protection and reach in 4 countries. What you do yourself: logos and copy, bookkeeping rules, emails, a test on mobile and a dashboard that tracks payment conversion per method. Want to be sure your checkout is ready for 2027? Book an intro call and we will walk through your online store within 2 business days.