The European Payment Initiative (EPI) has reached a major milestone with its Wero wallet, enrolling 14 million users and processing 8 million transactions since its launch. Backed by leading European banks, EPI aims to establish a unified digital payment standard that enhances Europe’s financial sovereignty and reduces reliance on global giants like Mastercard and Visa.
Initially launched in France and Germany, Wero is now available in Belgium through partnerships with Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, and KBC Bank & Verzekering. German savings and cooperative bank customers have integrated Wero within their banking apps, and Postbank users will soon access a standalone P2P payments app, with broader integration planned for Deutsche Bank customers in 2025.
The European Payments Initiative (EPI), a European player committed to offering a cross-regional and sovereign mobile payment alternative for consumers, announced the successful launch of its digital wallet Wero in three European markets over the past few weeks. „To date, 14 million users have enrolled for the service and 8 million transactions have been processed since the launch.” – according to the press release.
Wero has been designed as an alternative to international payment schemes. It aims to offer a secure, and seamless European mobile payment solution. In order to provide choice and convenience to all users, Wero has been made available in all the applications of EPI’s bank members and soon, in a standalone application developed by EPI for sending and receiving money. Other value-added services will follow.
Customers of German savings and co-operative banks have been able to access and use Wero within their banking apps since July 2024. The launch of the peer-to-peer (P2P) service enables users to send and receive money easily and instantly to friends and family, by simply providing a phone number or email address. Further functional enhancements have been added, such as the „Request Money” feature and the generation of personal QR codes, especially designed to protect personal data, in the event of a person-to-person payment between strangers.
„With Wero, we are aiming to develop a new standard for digital payments in Germany and actively contribute to the independence and sovereignty of Europe in payments ” emphasizes Dr Joachim Schmalzl, Managing Director of the DSGV. „The Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is proud to be part of this European initiative, which offers our customers a secure, fast, and user-friendly payment solution and will provide an attractive service for merchants, who are already showing a strong interest in the solution.„
With the launch of the Wero stand-alone app, EPI is creating an alternative use option for Wero, alongside the banks’ apps. It will be available to Postbank customers from next week onwards and to Deutsche Bank customers in 2025. Other banks will follow gradually.
„Wero is more than just another payment app. It is a step towards a standardized European payment landscape” adds Dr Dominik Hennen, Head of Personal Banking at Deutsche Bank. „We are delighted to be able to offer our customers this innovative solution that simplifies payments across national borders.”
Wero roadmap: what’s next?
In addition to the P2P feature, Wero aims to add new functionalities with the launch of its retail solution in 2025. These include payments using the Wero wallet and mobile payments for e-commerce.
According to “The European Mobile Payment Landscape” study conducted by IPSOS on behalf of EPI (1), Germany has a unique position in the region with regard to its payment habits. While cash remains popular among Germans, there is a growing interest in digital payment solutions, especially for e-commerce and peer-to-peer transactions. The focus is on security, cost efficiency, and ease of use. With 44% of respondents planning to use mobile payment solutions in the future and a strong interest in innovative features such as „Scan & Go” (31%) and loyalty programs (33%), there is a clear trend toward the adoption of digital transformation.
„The launch of Wero in Germany underlines our commitment to innovative and customer-centric solutions. As part of the Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe (German co-operative banks), we see Wero as an opportunity to offer members and customers of our co-operative banks real added value. Therefore, we will perform the first Proof of Concept in e-commerce and Friends & Family-phase for P2Pro in December this year. With this action, we confirm the smooth functioning of the solution for online merchants and continue our journey in the market launch in 2025, leveraging as for the rest of Wero the fact that payments will be directly happening from and to the bank account, instantly and transparently for the clients.” explains Thomas Ullrich, member of the DZ Bank Management Board.
Point-of-sale payments at retailers are also included in the wallet’s development plans for 2026.
Other value-added services such as Buy Now, Pay Later (installments), merchant loyalty program integration and split payments are in the pipeline, as is the management of recurring payments linked to subscriptions. The European Payments Initiative is also in discussions with other banks to join the project in 2025. In Germany, ING will roll out its solution in Germany in 2025.
„As a pan-European bank, we see great added value in a standardized European offering that allows our customers to make mobile, online and in-store payments in a matter of seconds” comments Christian Böhrer, Tribe Lead Payments at ING Germany. „With iDeal, ING has already proven in the Netherlands that it can compete with the major international providers in the e-commerce sector with its bank offering. We now want to scale this approach throughout Europe.„
Within three to four years, Wero will be an „all-in-one” European payment solution that will allow everyone to manage their finances easily and securely, while meeting their needs in terms of privacy and compliance with European regulations.
“After a phased launch of Wero in three European countries, we can now focus on deepening our market penetration including more banks and features and accelerate the next steps in commercial payments by working with merchants and their service providers. The proposition of Wero needs to be built up step by step to ensure that Wero will become a true European success story,” concludes Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI.
___________
EPI or European Payments Initiative is supported by 16 European banks and payment service providers. They have joined forces with a common objective: to offer a unified digital payment service for all European businesses and citizens, Wero. EPI intends to enable European consumers and merchants to make next-generation payments for all types of retail transactions via a digital wallet. Based on instant account-to-account payments, Wero will further streamline payments in Europe by eliminating intermediaries in the payment chain and the associated costs. Wero will initially support P2P payments. This will be followed by P2Pro payments and payments for online and mobile purchases. Point-of-sale payments will also be included, along with value-added services, such as merchant loyalty programs.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
