Monizze and IDEMIA Launch Monizze Pay for Contactless Voucher Payments in Belgium

Belgian fintech Monizze and IDEMIA Secure Transactions have launched Monizze Pay, a sovereign mobile payment solution for employee benefits. By integrating contactless payments directly into its own application, Monizze is bypassing international wallet schemes to provide a localized, cost-effective digital experience for meal, eco, and gift vouchers across Belgium’s merchant network.

What was announced

Monizze Pay is a new mobile payment feature designed to digitize the employee benefit experience in Belgium. The solution allows users to pay for goods in-store using their smartphone instead of a physical card. It covers three primary voucher types: meal, eco, and gift vouchers. The technology is integrated directly into the existing Monizze mobile application and is compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems, ensuring broad accessibility for the Belgian workforce.

The technical foundation of the service is provided by IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST), utilizing a SaaS-based tokenization platform. This system replaces sensitive card data with unique digital tokens to secure each transaction. Furthermore, the solution employs Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to enable Near Field Communication (NFC) payments. This allows Monizze to offer a "Tap to Pay" experience within its own app environment, rather than requiring users to navigate through external third-party digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

For merchants, the system utilizes the existing Monizze card acceptance infrastructure, meaning no additional hardware or complex software updates are required to accept these mobile payments. A key driver behind the launch is the reduction of transaction costs. By operating independently of major international payment and digital wallet schemes, Monizze aims to maintain a sustainable and transparent cost structure for local Belgian merchants while retaining full control over the branding, user journey, and payment data environment.

"Monizze Pay is about more than adding a new payment feature. It demonstrates that a Belgian fintech can deliver the mobile experience consumers now expect while preserving an economic model that is requested by and works for local merchants. We have listened to merchants who want a transparent and sustainable cost structure, with as less as possible intermediaries and costs in the payment chain. By combining Monizze’s understanding of the Belgian employee benefits market with IST’s payment technology expertise, we have laid the foundation for further innovation that can benefit the entire ecosystem."

Jean-Louis VAN HOUWE, founder and CEO of Monizze.

The companies involved

Monizze is a leading Belgian fintech firm that specializes in the administration of innovative and flexible employee benefits. The company provides a digital platform for the distribution of various vouchers, including meal and eco-vouchers, which are a staple of the Belgian compensation landscape. Monizze focuses on creating a seamless interface between employers, employees, and a vast network of local merchants, positioning itself as a key player in the domestic "three-corner" payment ecosystem.

IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) is a global leader in secure payment and connectivity solutions. As a major division within the security technology sector, IST provides the critical infrastructure necessary for secure financial transactions, including the issuance of physical cards and the deployment of digital payment services. The company’s expertise spans tokenization, biometrics, and secure software for mobile devices. IST currently manages over 500 million provisioned tokens worldwide, supporting proximity, in-app, and e-commerce transactions across various industries. The company positions itself as a strategic partner for domestic payment schemes and private-label card issuers who wish to maintain sovereignty over their payment infrastructure and data while modernizing their digital offerings for a mobile-first consumer base.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously covered Monizze's strategic expansion efforts within the Benelux region. In late 2025, the company partnered with the card-as-a-service provider Enfuce to facilitate its entry into the Luxembourg market. This collaboration was centered on the launch of open-loop employee benefit cards, as detailed in the report Enfuce Enters Belgium and Luxembourg With Monizze to Launch Open-Loop Employee Benefit Cards. That move marked a significant step in Monizze’s strategy to provide more flexible spending options for employees, moving beyond traditional closed-loop systems to broader card acceptance. The current launch of Monizze Pay represents a continuation of this digital-first trajectory, focusing on mobile-native payment experiences within the Belgian domestic market.

What this means

This move highlights a growing tension between local payment providers and the dominance of international "Big Tech" wallets. By opting for a sovereign HCE-based solution, Monizze is making a calculated bet that merchants will favor lower transaction fees over the ubiquity of global platforms. This puts pressure on traditional card schemes and international wallet providers to justify their fee structures in specialized, domestic markets. The success of this initiative will likely depend on whether the user experience within a proprietary app can truly match the frictionless nature of OS-level wallets. It raises a broader question for the fintech sector: can localized, private-label ecosystems survive the gravity of global payment giants by offering better terms to the merchant side of the network?