TWINT: Switzerland's real-time bank transfer (a2a)
Switzerland's domestic mobile wallet — jointly owned by the Swiss banks, dominant for CHF e-commerce and P2P.
How the TWINT flow works
TWINT is a mobile wallet jointly owned by the major Swiss banks. Consumers link a Swiss bank account or debit card and authorise payments with a PIN inside the TWINT app.
At checkout the merchant displays a TWINT QR (or triggers a push to the shopper's app). The shopper scans/confirms and authorises with PIN or biometrics.
Funds move via the shopper's bank account; the merchant's PSP receives a confirmation and settles in CHF.
TWINT is also the default P2P method in Switzerland and is widely used for in-person QR payments at retail, F&B and vending.
Typical use cases
- Any Swiss e-commerce, in-app or in-person checkout.
- P2P and P2M in Switzerland.
- Charities, events and small merchants using TWINT QR without card acquiring.
Consumer reach
Millions of active Swiss users across every major bank; effectively the default domestic wallet.
Who should accept TWINT
- Any merchant selling to Swiss consumers.
- Cross-border merchants targeting Switzerland who otherwise only offer international cards.
Operational detail
The operational half of every method profile — settlement, refunds, disputes, PSP coverage and licensing — is reserved for Payment Methods List founding partners. It's the part vendor sites won't publish and the part that actually decides whether TWINT works for your stack.
Settlement time
How fast TWINT funds land after the payer confirms, behaviour outside scheme hours, whether the rail settles gross or net, and the realistic T+n to sweep to USD/EUR — plus the PSPs where the advertised timeline actually holds in Switzerland.
Book a founding-partner call →Refund mechanics
How TWINT refunds are executed end-to-end when the rail has no scheme-level reversal — payer-initiated pulls, credit transfers, or PSP-fronted refunds — plus partial-refund support, time limits, and the API surface each PSP exposes.
Book a founding-partner call →Chargeback exposure
Whether TWINT has any dispute construct at all, which recall/return/indemnity vectors actually exist on the rail, how consumer-protection rules in Switzerland route claims back to merchants, and observed loss rates versus cards.
Book a founding-partner call →PSP coverage matrix
Which acquirers and aggregators run direct rail connections to TWINT vs. reselling a partner, coverage depth and reliability, effective pricing bands, and who to pick when Switzerland volume is your primary use case.
Book a founding-partner call →KYC & licensing notes
Requirements to accept TWINT — local entity vs. cross-border MoR, licensing regime governing the rail in Switzerland, KYC obligations at onboarding and per-transaction, and FX/reporting rules for foreign merchants.
Book a founding-partner call →