iDEAL is an Internet payment method in the Netherlands, based on online banking. Introduced in 2005, this payment method allows customers to buy securely on the Internet using direct online transfers from their bank account. iDEAL processed 4,5 million transfers in 2006, 15 million transfers in 2007, 28 million transfers in 2008, 45.4 million in 2009 and 68.8 million in 2010.[1] iDEAL is owned by the Dutch organization Currence, which also owns PIN and Chipknip.
The participating banks in iDEAL are: ABN AMRO, ASN Bank, Friesland Bank, ING Bank, Rabobank, RegioBank, SNS Bank, Triodos Bank and Van Lanschot.[2] Together these are serving the vast majority of the Dutch online banking market.
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iDEAL offers merchants a real-time payment method (publicized as low-cost and virtually risk-free) to accept internet payments. For customers, iDEAL uses the same environment as their banks' online banking sites. A high level of security is realized by using two-factor authentication (2FA), such as a challenge-response token based on the chip embedded in the debit card or ATM card. Furthermore, no sensitive information is being shared with the merchant, such as credit card numbers. There is no chargeback right however, which can be considered a disadvantage for the consumer using this payment method. This is considered an advantage to the merchants.
iDEAL works as follows: