The TWINT money payment and transfer application crossed the 6 million users’ mark. This “vintage” service, since based on the old QR Code in thirty years, has an amazing popularity and contributes to the digital sovereignty of Switzerland, according to its designers.
This exceptional growth places the Swiss application at the heart of the mobile payment revolution in the country, not always at the forefront in this area. With a notoriety rate of 99% among people over 16 years of age, TWINT stands out as a key player in Swiss daily life. Like what, everything is possible with good marketing!
A “social phenomenon”
TWINT now goes beyond the simple payment application status to become a real cultural phenomenon, according to an apological press release. “Twinter” has entered the Swiss current language, to the point that this brand was elected the strongest in the country according to the Brand Asset Valuator study in March 2025.
This massive adoption testifies to the attachment of the Swiss to their technological independence from the American giants of the sector. The local solution offers a credible alternative to foreign payment services, thus strengthening the country’s digital sovereignty. It is an interpretation. One can also wonder about a certain drift of the “monopolistic” type, according to the RTS.
Multiple and expanding uses
The application not only manages to manage store payments, which however represent 75% of transactions, but also to transfer money between individuals in 25% of cases. It also allows you to manage loyalty cards such as cumulus or supercard for a maximum suction of our data.
These various friendships may explain the explosive growth of transactions, from 4 million in 2017 to 773 million in 2024. Twint team today 81% of physical shops and 84% of Swiss online stores, confirming its dominant position on the Swiss market.
What to think? The undersigned uses Twint to buy In the morning Sunday, 24 hours and occasionally at the market, . Otherwise, he prefers to use truly modern and effective payment solutions, that is to say the NFC for Near Field Communication, much faster and well integrated into smartphones. Nothing to do with the rusticity of a QR-Code scan, moreover to security with variable geometry, according to this warning.
XS
Annual transactions with Twint
2017: 4 million transactions
2018: 11 million transactions
2019: 37 million transactions
2020: 104 million transactions
2021: 215 million transactions
2022: 386 million transactions
2023: 590 million transactions
2024: 773 million transactions
Learn more about the High-Tech & Telecom blog by Xavier Studer
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