Today the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) and MyBank announced that the four systemically important banks in Greece will start to roll-out MyBank to their retail and corporate customers at the end of April 2016.
MyBank is an e-authorisation solution that allows bank customers across Europe to pay for their online shopping by using their own bank account: the MyBank button on the seller’s website redirects internet shoppers to their online or mobile banking platform, where they can pay by confirming a SEPA Credit Transfer order that already has all the details filled in.
The participating banks in Greece are Piraeus Bank, National Bank of Greece, Eurobank and Alpha Bank. Together these banks cover more than 94% of the Greek market, which means that sellers offering MyBank will benefit from close to full national reach among Greek customers from an early stage on. MyBank will offer to both retail and corporate customers an additional payment option to complete their online and mobile purchases in a simple, efficient and secure manner.
MyBank is already available in Italy, France, Luxembourg and Belgium and supports the initiation of SEPA Credit Transfers via online or mobile banking as well as the creation, modification and cancellation of electronic mandates for direct debits. MyBank Identity Verification services are currently in a pilot stage.
“The electronic commerce revolution holds huge opportunities and challenges for all parties concerned. We believe that MyBank is the right strategic move for our member banks in the face of this evolution: this solution allows them to offer to their clients an easy, reliable and secure way to buy on the internet by paying via their familiar online banking interface,” said Prof. Christos Gortsos, Secretary General at the HBA.
“We are very proud that the major Greek banks have selected MyBank as a key option for facilitating customers’ e- and m-payments – both at a domestic and at cross-border level. As its reach across Europe continues to grow there is a lot of opportunity for MyBank to be used by tourists paying Greek hotels, transport companies and holiday operators,” said John Broxis, Managing Director at PRETA S.A.S., the company that owns and manages MyBank.
The MyBank onboarding process and local support is managed by DIAS S.A., which provides clearing services to Greek and foreign banks operating in Greece. DIAS facilitates the integration of participating credit institutions, which will pave the way for mass adoption from both buyers and sellers.
Customers using MyBank do not have to communicate their payment details or other confidential data to any web shops or other third parties, since the payment process takes place within the highly secured environment of their own online banking environment. E-merchants using MyBank are informed in real time that the customer has initiated the payment.
