Bancontact

Bancontact is Belgium’s dominant payment method, with over 18 million cards in circulation in a country of 11 million people. It is used by 94% of Belgians and processed 382 million online payments in 2024, a figure that grew nearly 20% year on year. For any merchant targeting Belgian consumers, Bancontact is not optional: it is an expected presence at checkout and a meaningful trust signal for local shoppers.

Customers pay via their Bancontact card, the Bancontact app, or a QR code flow, authenticating directly through their bank’s environment. Payments are confirmed in real time, giving merchants instant transaction certainty. The method is connected to virtually all Belgian banks, and the mobile share of Bancontact transactions now exceeds 90%.

On cost, Bancontact transaction fees are typically lower than international card schemes, generally in the range of €0.25 to €0.50 per transaction for most PSP arrangements, though exact pricing depends on your provider, volume, and contract structure. This makes it a cost-efficient method relative to the conversion it protects, particularly given that excluding it from a Belgian-facing checkout will cost a merchant a significant share of local revenue.

Recurring payments are supported via Bancontact, making it relevant for subscription and instalment models targeting Belgian consumers, not just one-off e-commerce transactions.

PSP support is broad. Most major providers, including Adyen, Stripe, Mollie, Buckaroo, and MultiSafepay, offer Bancontact natively. If you are entering the Belgian market or currently accept Bancontact but have not reviewed the fee structure recently, that is worth checking: rates for local payment methods like Bancontact are often negotiable as part of a broader PSP contract review.

Relevant markets: Belgium