German bank-backed payments platform Paydirekt is aiming to increase its user base sevenfold by the end of 2017, Handelsblatt reported.

Internal documents seen by the business newspaper said the company hoped increased smartphone functionality would provide a much-needed boost for the platform, which is reportedly struggling to compete with market leader PayPal.

Paydirekt was founded in 2014 by several of the country’s major banks, including Deutsche Bank and Postbank, in a bid to compete with PayPal.

Services went live at the end of 2015 and within six weeks the company announced it had signed up 150,000 customers. By April 2016 it had gained the support of the vast majority of current account providers and savings banks in the country to achieve what it described as almost complete market coverage.

Although the platform is widely supported by finance providers, following an initial rush of sign-ups it is reportedly struggling to gain traction with consumers and major retailers.

Media estimates suggest its 1 million members used the service for fewer than 100,000 transactions during 2016.

PayPal figures aren’t broken down into country-specific statistics. However, Handelsblatt estimates the US company had 19 million users in Germany and processed up to 500 million transactions in 2016.

In its Q4 2016 earnings statement, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the company saw strong growth in mobile payments across all its markets. Mobile payments accounted for $31 billion worth of transactions during the period, equivalent to almost one-third of all money moving through PayPal in the quarter.