Synch Payments, the mobile payments joint venture set up by Ireland's leading banks, will not launch until at least next year after being told it needs approval under EU rules.
The joint venture says it has been told by Ireland's central bank that it needs “regulatory approval pursuant to the European Union Payments Services Regulation 2018” before it can launch.
The firm says it "welcomes the certainty" and will make an application as soon as possible "with a view to Synch entering the market next year".
Synch is building a money-transfer app, called Yippay, on behalf of AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Ireland and Permanent TSB to help the banks take on the likes of Revolut.
It will offer banks and authorised financial institutions a service that will lets merchants receive account-to-account payments for POS and e-commerce transactions, with an effective “mobile-only” user-experience for shoppers.
Last summer the project was given the all-clear by Ireland's Competition & Consumer Protection Commission and brought in Italy's Nexi as its technology partner.