iDEAL is an online payment method in the Netherlands. This payment method allows shoppers to purchase goods online using direct transfers from their bank accounts. Participating banks change from time to time, but they may include ABN AMRO, ASN Bank, bunq, Friesland Bank, ING Bank, Knab, Rabobank, RegioBank, SNS Bank, Triodos Bank, and Van Lanschot.

iDEAL payment flow

Examples and implementation

Conceptual overview

The following video shows the shopper's iDEAL journey.

Source: https://www.ideal.nl

Properties

Type of Payment

Online

Chargebacks

Yes, as payments are not guaranteed. However, there is a very low risk of chargebacks since it is a real-time transfer.

Consumer Currency

EUR

Consumer Country

Netherlands (see FAQ below)

Expiry Period

URL Expiry - The URL returned for online payment methods is generally only valid for a few minutes.

Recurring Payments

Partial Payment

Refunds

Yes. This payment method has a refund period of 180 days.

Important considerations

iDEAL works on all mobile devices with an internet connection and a web browser.
iDEAL is supported by all browsers that support online banking. This includes frequently used browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox.
The shopper must have a Netherlands-based billing address.

Shopper journey

The shopper journey should generally follow the guidelines below:

The shopper selects iDEAL as the payment method.
The shopper selects their preferred bank on the supplier site.
The supplier creates a Reach order and returns an iDEAL authentication URL.
Reach creates an iDEAL transaction, which triggers behind-the-scenes communication between an acquiring bank and the shopper's bank.
The shopper is redirected to their bank to log in and confirm payment.
Reach sees that the iDEAL payment has been completed (the shopper's bank has sent the acquirer's bank a guarantee of payment).
The shopper is redirected back to the supplier's confirmation page for receipt of payment. The supplier can proceed to ship goods.

Technical considerations

It's essential to note that there is no pre-authorization for iDEAL transactions.
iDEAL does not have 100% uptime. iDEAL availability is accessible on the iDEAL Availability Dashboard
The shopper's bank must be specified in the Issuer field of the /checkout request API call. The getPaymentMethods returns a list of acceptable banks.
To get the result of the/checkout request, include an IssuerId (getPaymentMethods returns a list of Issuers, and the customer can choose which they would like) and RedirectUrl.

Testing

iDEAL requires extra effort to test, but since it is an online payment method, no special values are needed to test the checkout process. Contact Reach's technical team when you're ready to start testing.

Include an IssuerId (a list of Issuers is returned by getPaymentMethods, and the customer can choose which they would like) and RedirectUrl in the /checkout request in order to get the result of the /checkout request.

Related information

iDEAL availability is accessible on the iDEAL Availability Dashboard