Is Bancontact Down? Live status & outage reports

Service info and troubleshooting

Bancontact App Won't Open or Crashes

If the Payconiq by Bancontact app freezes on launch or crashes immediately, start by force-closing it and clearing the app cache through your phone's settings. Check that you're running a supported OS version — Android 8 or iOS 14 and above are required. If the issue persists, uninstall the app and reinstall it fresh from the official store. Corrupted local data after a failed update is a common culprit.

Payment Gets Declined at Checkout

A declined payment usually points to one of a few things: your bank hasn't enabled online payments on your card, you've hit a daily transaction limit, or the merchant's integration is misbehaving. Log into your bank's app and verify that Bancontact transactions are active. If limits aren't the issue, try a different browser or switch from desktop to mobile — some checkout flows behave differently across environments.

QR Code Not Scanning Properly

Clean your camera lens first — it sounds obvious but fixes this more often than you'd expect. Make sure the QR code on screen is fully visible and not partially cut off. Low screen brightness on the merchant's device makes scanning unreliable. If the app still won't read the code, check camera permissions in your phone settings and make sure no other app is using the camera in the background.

Login Fails or Session Keeps Expiring

• Confirm your PIN hasn't been entered incorrectly three times — repeated failures lock the account temporarily
• Check that your phone's date and time are set to automatic; a wrong timezone breaks authentication tokens
• Delete saved credentials and re-register the device if the session keeps dropping without reason
• Make sure your bank hasn't flagged your account for a security review, which silently blocks access

Transfers Stuck in Pending State

A transfer that sits in pending for more than a few minutes usually means the receiving bank's system is lagging or there's a processing queue on your bank's end. Check your bank's own app to see if the transaction appears there. If it does but the recipient hasn't received funds, contact your bank directly with the transaction reference — they can trace it on the interbank network. Don't retry the transfer immediately, or you risk a duplicate charge.

No Internet Causing Payment Timeout

Bancontact payments require a stable connection at the moment of confirmation. If you're on mobile data with weak signal, the request can time out mid-process without a clear error message. Switch to Wi-Fi if available, or move to a better coverage area and retry. If you're on Wi-Fi and still timing out, restart your router or toggle airplane mode briefly to reset the network stack on your phone.