iDeal must work flawlessly: store owners

Store owners and online store owners want the Dutch bank sector to raise the bar for iDeal and to adopt measures to ensure that the major online payment method works fault-free within two years, Detailhandel Nederland writes on its website. The Tweede Kamer (lower house of parliament) is discussing the fault- and availability standard for payments this week. Thuiswinkel.org and Detailhandel Nederland is bringing iDeal to their attention. According to the interest organizations, iDeal is the most important online payment method in the Netherlands with 190 million purchases per year. According to Detailhandel Nederland, all the major and minor faults on iDeal adds up to one and a half days per year that the Dutch experience hindrance when using the payment method. Compared with other utilities, the availability of iDeal is much lower. For example, when it comes to the electricity supply in the Netherlands, the average household is without electricity for 27 minutes per year. The two associations think that the current standards for iDeal is too low and this does not give the banking sector sufficient motivation to work on preventing faults. The associations are advocating for a stricter fault standard in the coming ears. De Nederlandsche Bank must ensure that the industry takes steps to achieve full availability within two years. The associations believe that this is an achievable goal if the banks cooperate and learn from each other's mistakes. "Availability of iDeal is crucial for consumers and the entire retail sector. Failures undermine confidence in the Dutch payment system. iDeal must function properly and facilitate online shops non-stop. The market share of iDeal in the Netherlands and the impact on online shops is too great to accept failures." said Paul Alfing of Thuiswinkel.org. "We are increasingly dependent on a well-functioning electronic payments system. This was again obvious last year when iDeal went down just before Sinterklaas. Consumers were hampered in their shopping and shops missed out on sales. We are also tired of the failures and the standard should be tightened."