Swissquote launches mobile payments app TWINT
Swissquote has announced the launch of its own TWINT mobile payment app, effective today.
The payment solution marks one step further towards being a universal bank for private clients and will be available for all eTrading-account holders free of charge, the firm stated.
To use Swissquote TWINT, clients will need to have an eTrading account at Swissquote as well as a Smartphone with an iOS (version 13.0 onwards) or Android operating system installed (version 7 onwards), including bluetooth (version 4.0 onwards).
Since it is already integrated with the Swissquote account, the mobile payment app is already available for its more than four million active users.
They can leverage the app to make convenient and secure payments via smartphone – at the cash register in a supermarket, at online shops, when shopping at a farm shop, on public transport, when parking, or peer-to-peer.
“TWINT is the next logical step”
Marc Bürki, CEO of Swissquote, said: “Launching Swissquote TWINT is the next logical step towards our goal of becoming the first bank for our clients, also concerning mobile payment. And we are very happy to have TWINT as a strong partner.”
Transactions with TWINT are free of charge for all eTrading-account holders, be it for POS or peer-to-peer transactions, but the firm added that, in some rare cases, partners may add small charges, i.e. for cash withdrawal or ticket-free parking.
Swissquote’s trading platform features over three million financial products as the firm specializes in global stock market trading, trading and custody of crypto assets, Forex trading, and a RoboAdvisor solution.
As at the end of December 2021, Swissquote held over 55 billion Swiss francs in assets for more than 480,000 private institutional clients.
2021 revenue better than expected
The bank, based in Gland, western Switzerland, had flagged its pre-tax profit at a record CHF 223 million ($245 million) for the year. This figure was significantly higher from CHF 105.6 million it reported a year earlier. As a result, the board of directors will propose to the annual general meeting to increase the dividend by 46.7 percent, from CHF 1.50 to CHF 2.20 per share.
Swissquote said it had surpassed its initial forecasts, which were already raised in August to 465 million francs in revenue from 365 million. The bank also upgraded its pre-tax profit target to 210 million francs from initial estimates of 130 million.
Fuelled by strong client and asset growth as well as a favorable market environment, the bank said trading volumes were strong in all business areas and asset classes in 2021. These results were also driven by higher organic net new money inflow of CHF 9.6 billion. Client assets also rose above CHF 55 billion.
Swissquote is looking to delve further into the digital-asset arena with the launch of its own cryptocurrency trading platform. Most recently, it has introduced a staking service for Tezos (XTZ), which enables users to earn dividends or interest on their XTZ holdings just for depositing and holding the token on the platform.
