Of Tikkie users can send links in WhatsApp requesting a refund. This is very useful if you have advanced money for someone. The app is an initiative of ABN Amro, but you do not have to be a customer of that bank to use it or receive requests. However, your money is only directly in the other person’s account if you both bank with ABN Amro. The waiting times are comparable to regular transactions.

This is how you install the app

To use Tikkie you need a Dutch current account, a smartphone (Android and iOS, it does not work with Windows phones) and WhatsApp. The recipient of the payment request does not need Tikkie, but Whatapp and a Dutch payment account do.

> For iOS

> For Android

When you have installed the app, you must enter your account number. Make sure you provide the correct number. ABN AMRO does not check this. If the money is not credited, ABN must be able to demonstrate that your bank has received the amount. You can ask your own bank where the money is. If ABN cannot prove that your bank has received the amount, ABN AMRO must repay the money to you, according to the Consumers’ Association.

If you accept a payment request via Tikkie, you pay via your own bank. The link you receive starts with ‘https’, which means that the data is secured.

Send your payment request

The recipient of the request will therefore receive a link via Whatsapp to pay via iDEAL. If you send a payment request, you will see in the app who has paid and you can send a reminder to those who have not yet paid. You can also send your payment request to a complete Whatsapp group with several people. If you want to send the request to multiple people, who are not all in a group, you have to copy the link and send it separately.

When the payment request has been sent, your friend will receive a WhatsApp message asking to pay. This message states what you are requesting a refund for, the amount, a link and a date until which the payment request is valid. When your friend clicks on the link in the message, he or she will see the outstanding amount and can transfer the money directly via iDEAL. No transaction costs are charged for this.

Tip: Does your friend not have WhatsApp?

Then send the payment request via e-mail. You can also copy and paste the payment link that you send via WhatsApp into an e-mail message. That’s how you do that:

• Create a payment request
• Enter the amount
• Indicate what you want money for
• Press ‘Share via WhatsApp’
• Select any contact and press ‘Send’
• You can now copy the message (The message does not need to be sent)
• Close Tikkie and then open your mail

You can now compose an email and send it to the recipient.

Effective?

Tikkie now has no fewer than three million users. In January 2018 that was two million, in August 2017 only one million. The app is therefore experiencing unprecedented growth. According to the bank ABN AMRO, 87% of the recipients of a Tikkie repay the amount within a day. No less than 10% do this within a minute!

Tikkie is not the only app that allows you to make payment requests. scarf, Twyp and Bunq are other apps with the same kind of services. The biggest advantage of Tikkie compared to these other apps is that the recipient does not have to own the app. Also, no access code or account is required. So the threshold to use it is quite low.

Is it safe enough?

But, that also has a downside. If your phone falls into the wrong hands, someone else can make payment requests via your phone. It is not of much use to them, because if someone accepts a payment request, the money is not deposited into his or her account, but into yours. According to the Consumers’ Association, it is important that you as a recipient of a payment request are attentive: ‘Don’t just pay if you don’t expect anything!’

Sources: radar.avrotros.nl, the Consumers’ Association, Nu.nl