Customer stories
Customer stories
PayconiqbyBancontact boosts conversions and cuts costs with itsme®
Executive summary
PayconiqbyBancontact, the leading payment app in Belgium, has partnered with digital identity platform itsme® to simplify customer verification and onboarding.
Previously, PayconiqbyBancontact used a multi-step verification process based on One-Time Passwords (OTPs) to ensure secure onboarding. However, this approach often caused delays, multiple failed verification attempts, and high costs, particularly when users requested repeated SMS codes. These issues also drove up support calls and led to abandoned registrations.
By leveraging itsme®’s widespread adoption in Belgium, which exceeds 80% of the country's adult population, onboarding new and existing users became faster and more reliable, all without requiring customers to change their habits.
The integration reduced operational costs, improved conversion rates, and delivered a smoother, more secure onboarding experience, showcasing the value of combining a trusted digital identity solution with innovative payment technology.
"Integrating itsme® boosted our conversion by 13% by reducing the time it took a customer to convert, making onboarding faster and smoother for everyone."
Valentina Caruso, Chief Operating Officer at Bancontact Payconiq Company
Challenge: Replacing OTPs as a user verification method
As one of Belgium’s most widely used payment apps, PayconiqbyBancontact is held to high standards of reliability and security. Due to the large volumes of users relying on the app every day, the app needs to ensure that core processes like onboarding work flawlessly all the time. In addition, onboarding first-time users or those reinstalling the app required complete certainty about each user’s identity.
To achieve this, Bancontact Payconiq Company implemented a multi-step verification process, including a two-step identity check with one-time passwords (OTPs) sent via both SMS and email. While secure, this approach introduced significant friction.
The delivery speed of OTP codes varied depending on a user’s phone carrier or email provider. Delays often led users to request multiple codes, driving up costs. "Sometimes, multiple SMS messages were sent during a single onboarding flow, which drove up the cost per onboarding," explained Valentina Caruso, Chief Operating Officer at Bancontact Payconiq Company. This inefficiency also drove up customer support demand, with frequent customer calls about missing or delayed codes, emails landing in spam folders, or incorrect code entries.
The complexity of the flow also contributed to higher abandonment rates during onboarding, directly impacting conversion rates per session. Reducing these drop-offs and costly onboarding flows while maintaining stringent security became a key priority for Bancontact Payconiq Company.
In exploring alternative verification and secure onboarding tools, Bancontact Payconiq Company quickly recognised a natural fit with itsme®. "The itsme® app is widely used, so using it for identification meant that we were not imposing new flows or new habits onto consumers, since we're leveraging a tool that the vast majority of adults in Belgium already use," explained Valentina.
"Beyond the technical benefits, there was a cultural and brand alignment. Both PayconiqbyBancontact and itsme® are apps by Belgian fintech success stories, with strong reputations for trust and innovation," she added, "a synergy that reinforced the decision to partner."
Solution: PayconiqbyBancontact uses itsme® as a verification tool
Starting November 2024, the PayconiqbyBancontact app integrated itsme® as an identity verification method to streamline onboarding and reduce operational costs. This was reinforced by itsme®’s annual per-user pricing model, which allows unlimited return authentications without extra costs, significantly outperforming the previous solution.
The integration went smoothly, and we were live with itsme® in just two months. The teams worked hand in hand, collaborating across functions, proactively suggesting improvements before go-live and during implementation, and continuing to follow up after launch with advice and further enhancements. It was a truly positive partnership."
Véronique Thoa, Product Manager at Bancontact Payconiq Company
"Onboarding with itsme® reduced the time it takes to create a user account in our app to approximately two minutes," said Véronique Thoa, Product Manager at Bancontact Payconiq Company. "Users now only need to open the app-to-app flow, confirm via itsme®, and return to the main flow, eliminating the need to fetch codes via email or SMS, which previously slowed conversions."
In the newly launched PayconiqbyBancontact app version (released in August 2025), itsme® is positioned more prominently as the default verification method, while SMS and email remain available as alternatives. Before this update, around half of all new users chose itsme® during onboarding, and nearly 80% selected it when returning to the app. Since the change, the number of users opting for itsme® has increased by 30%.
Streamlined compliance with itsme®
Bancontact Payconiq Company must comply with strict GDPR requirements as a consumer app with millions of users. Integrating itsme® helped in further complying with this regulation.
"Choosing itsme® meant working with a partner we could fully trust in terms of the origin of data," said Valentina. "When it comes to fulfilling our regulatory duties, itsme®’s role as a trusted source of identity data meant that we are reassured about where data is coming from," she explained.
"With itsme®, we also know that data is handled, protected, and accessed within the right framework, with user consent and robust safeguards in place," she added. "That level of assurance makes our work easier and protects both our customers and our reputation."
Impact: Higher conversions, lower onboarding costs, and a better UX with digital ID
Bancontact Payconiq Company is focused on improving the user experience for its customers while reducing operational costs and preserving its security. By integrating itsme®, the company has been able to streamline account creation and identification processes, leading to measurable improvements in onboarding conversion rates, operational efficiency, and data quality. After adopting itsme®, conversion rate per session grew by 13%, demonstrating a significant uplift in first-attempt completions.
Adoption metrics soon reflected the impact of adding itsme® as a digital verification tool. "In 2024, we saw a 58% drop in the number of OTPs sent Year-on-Year, and in 2025, the reduction in OTPs sent reached 72%, which aligns with our expectations," added Valentina. This also contributed to cost savings, particularly as itsme®’s pricing model charges only once per user following their first transaction in a calendar year.
Additionally, data quality at Bancontact Payconiq Company improved significantly following its collaboration with itsme®. "We know that itsme®'s data is very accurate, especially customer phone numbers, which the user needs to continuously validate," explained Véronique. By trusting this verified information, Bancontact Payconiq Company can update its internal records with confidence, ensuring that user data remains current and reliable, reinforcing the value of itsme® as a trusted partner for identity verification.
