Bivial

Bivial: What Merchants Need To Know

Bivial is a Swiss financial institution focused on modern accounts and cross-border payments for digital businesses. Regulated in Switzerland, Bivial provides multi-currency IBAN accounts, SEPA and SWIFT connectivity, payment rails for accepting bank transfers, disbursements, and Visa cards that work with Apple Pay and Google Pay. If you operate an online business, marketplace, or platform and need to centralize treasury, accept bank transfers, and orchestrate global payouts, Bivial is worth considering.

Bivial At A Glance

• Regulatory status: Deposit-taking financial institution in Switzerland under the FINMA FinTech license (Banking Act Article 1b).

• Core offering: Multi-currency business accounts with IBANs, SEPA and SWIFT payments, incoming bank transfers, outgoing disbursements, and modern connectivity options.

• Cards: Visa cards with support for Apple Pay and Google Pay, plus physical cards for operational spend control.

• Connectivity: REST API, SWIFT integration, and secure batch file upload options.

• Fit: Digital merchants, SaaS platforms, marketplaces, ad networks, and other online businesses that need to collect bank transfers and manage cross-border payouts alongside treasury operations.

Key Capabilities For Merchants

Multi-Currency IBAN Business Accounts

Bivial provides Swiss-based business accounts with dedicated IBANs in multiple currencies. This allows merchants to hold funds, collect payments by bank transfer, and make payouts internationally from a single environment. Typical use cases include settlement accounts for ecommerce, marketplace seller wallets, and centralized treasury for multi-entity groups.

Accept Payments By Bank Transfer

While Bivial is not positioned as a traditional card-gateway with checkout widgets, it enables accepting bank transfers through SEPA and SWIFT. For digital merchants who prefer or require account-to-account acceptance, this can reduce card scheme costs and chargeback exposure and improve acceptance among B2B buyers.

Cross-Border Payouts And Disbursements

Merchants can use Bivial to send SEPA and SWIFT payments to suppliers, creators, affiliates, or marketplace sellers. This supports scheduled and bulk payouts with operational controls and auditability.

Visa Cards And Digital Wallets

Bivial issues Visa cards for business spend. Virtual cards can be provisioned to Apple Pay and Google Pay for secure in-store and in-app payments. Physical cards are available for teams that need traditional plastic for travel and procurement.

Instant CHF Payments

Bivial has introduced instant Swiss Franc payments via the national SIC Instant Payments infrastructure. This allows eligible CHF transfers to settle within seconds, 24/7. For Swiss-franc denominated flows and local B2B payments, instant rails can streamline cash management and reduce payment uncertainty.

Integration And Connectivity Options

REST API

Bivial exposes a payments and accounts API to automate inbound and outbound transfers, reconcile balances, and program business logic. API responses are encrypted and designed for secure server-to-server integration. This is well suited to platforms that need to embed payment operations inside their product.

SWIFT Integration

Enterprises can integrate through SWIFT to exchange payments and statements in standardized formats. This is useful for larger treasury teams that already operate SWIFT-connected ERPs or TMS solutions.

Secure Batch File Upload

For teams without in-house development resources, Bivial supports secure batch file uploads for payment runs. Finance can prepare payout files from the ERP, upload them, and rely on maker-checker approval flows.

Compliance, Risk, And Governance

Swiss Regulation Via FINMA

Bivial operates with a FINMA FinTech license under Article 1b of the Swiss Banking Act. This signals prudential oversight, governance standards, and capital and risk controls aligned with Swiss regulatory expectations. For merchants that must demonstrate banking-grade partners, Switzerland’s regulatory framework is a material advantage.

KYC, AML, And Merchant Screening

As a regulated institution, Bivial performs onboarding checks on merchants and beneficial owners and monitors transactions for AML and sanctions risks. Expect to provide corporate documents, identification for UBOs and directors, and detail on payment flows, geographies, and counterparties.

Data Security

Bivial operates with controlled access to accounts, encrypted API responses, and secure channels for file and message exchange. This helps merchants meet internal audit, infosec, and data-protection requirements when outsourcing payment operations.

Who Bivial Suits Best

• Marketplaces and platforms that collect bank transfers and need to orchestrate global payouts to sellers or creators.

• Digital merchants and SaaS with B2B buyer bases that prefer invoices and bank transfers over cards.

• Cross-border ecommerce requiring multi-currency accounts for localized settlement and fewer FX hops.

• Ad networks, affiliates, and media businesses with frequent multi-party disbursements.

• Companies consolidating treasury in Switzerland for governance or operational reasons.

Strengths

• Regulated in Switzerland with a FINMA FinTech license, which can reduce third-party risk concerns.

• Multi-currency IBANs for holding funds and managing cross-border treasury without multiple bank relationships.

• Choice of rails with SEPA, SWIFT, and instant CHF payments for suitable use cases.

• Modern connectivity with REST API, SWIFT, and batch files to match different IT maturity levels.

• Business cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay to control operational spending globally.

Conclusion

Bivial offers regulated, Swiss-based multi-currency accounts, account-to-account acceptance through SEPA and SWIFT, cross-border payouts, Visa cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and modern integration options. It is a strong fit for digital merchants and platforms that prioritize treasury control, reliable bank-transfer acceptance, and scalable disbursements under a Swiss regulatory umbrella. If you already run a separate card-acceptance stack, Bivial can complement it as the core account and payout infrastructure.