Just days after taking the top job at Twint, Markus Kilb had to grapple with an anti-trust raid. He speaks to finews.com about the investigation and how he wants to get consumers «Twinting».
Markus Kilb, you had barely started as CEO of Twint when police and anti-trust investigators came knocking on your door.
That was unpleasant. I'd never experienced a raid or search before. You get sequestered, so I was separated and had to hand over my phone and laptop to a police investigator.
Not a great start.
Ultimately it wasn't critical for us. We're not a subject of the investigation and we also have a clear conscience.
It's probably easy to have that on your ninth day as a CEO [which is when Twint was raided].
Me personally in any event, but also as an organization. In addition, Switzerland's competition commission approved the structure of Twint when it was founded.
Twint has a problem with Apple, which won't interface to the NFC chip in its iPhones. Are you in touch with them about this?
At least Apple can no longer disrupt the payment process in favor of their services. We're still thinking about what to do with the NFC interface. In terms of leveling the playing field, we consider it an absurdity that Apple shuts out competition.
«Smartphone was almost an extension of her person»
We're ready to compete fairly. We want the best user experience for our clients. Apple's behavior is one reason why many options for us and many other apps as well simply aren't possible.
Why are you so optimistic that mobile payments have a future?
I was in a cafe recently where a young woman realized she had forgotten her wallet, but her smartphone was almost an extension of her. Lots of young people would probably rather cut their hand off than leave their phones at home. But the young woman had no issue leaving the house without grabbing cash. This will only accentuate, so that our phones become our life «hubs».
«Twint isn't just being actively used, it is crowding out cash.»
It keeps me in touch with work, but also keeps me tethered to my family. I can book train or plane tickets, pick my seat at the cinema or a sporting event. Whether you find that a good or bad development, I believe it is a promising avenue which will make a lot of payments in daily life a lot easier than carrying bank notes, coins, or bank cards. Your smartphone also offers you a lot more options to interact than a piece of plastic does.
What do you mean with interactions?
Coop's Supercard program is directly linked to the Twint app, as are various loyalty programs offered by shops, restaurants, services like beauty salons, and so on. They are offering their points and rebates electronically in our app. This is something we want to expand.
Clearly, vendors will welcome Twint, but how frequently are consumers using the app, expressed in numbers?
More than 100,000 people are actively using the integrated Coop card. We also have clear statements from Migros that Twint is not only being used very actively, but is also crowding out cash. The goal is to replace the relatively expensive handling of cash with a non-cash but nevertheless widely acceptable payment method.
How strongly do you see Twint replacing cash?
If you look at the entire market, Twint isn't very substantial yet. It's important for us to have qualitative statements from our partners that tell us «yes, it fulfills our expectations».
«We want to be the payment app of choice from before you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night»
Twint has hit a few bumps in the road and if our partners now say, «We like what you're doing and we'll stick with you», this is a strong signal that we're on the right track.
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