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The European Payments Initiative (EPI), the bank-backed organisation behind the Wero digital wallet, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with several European payment providers to accelerate the rollout of “sovereign, pan-European” payment solutions across the continent.
The move builds on EPI’s collaboration with the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) announced last year, which aimed to make cross-border payments simpler and more seamless for European consumers. The initiative is part of a broader effort to strengthen Europe’s payments sovereignty by reducing reliance on US card schemes and Big Tech platforms.
EPI launched Wero in 2024 as an account-to-account (A2A) digital wallet, positioning European banks to compete more effectively with global card networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
EuroPA, originally formed by Italy’s Bancomat, Spain’s Bizum and Portugal’s MB Way/SIBS, enables users to send and receive instant cross-border payments via mobile phone numbers. The alliance has since expanded to include Poland’s Blik, Greece’s Iris and Nordic payments provider Vipps MobilePay.
Under the new agreement, Bancomat, Bizum, SIBS-MB Way and Vipps MobilePay have formally committed to closer cooperation with EPI through the MoU.
Together, the participating payment services currently reach around 130 million users. At launch, the initiative will cover 13 European countries, representing roughly 72 per cent of the combined population of the European Union and Norway.
For consumers, the collaboration means they can continue using their preferred domestic payment apps while benefiting from wider European acceptance. Merchants, meanwhile, will be able to accept payments from customers across Europe using European-built payment technologies.
A key component of the initiative is the creation of a central interoperability hub, to be operated by a new joint entity established by the partners. This hub will serve as the technical layer enabling seamless transaction flows between national and pan-European payment schemes.
The interoperability hub is expected to be operational soon, supporting cross-border person-to-person payments later this year. E-commerce and point-of-sale payment capabilities are scheduled to follow in 2027.
Martina Weimert, chief executive of EPI, said the agreement marks a concrete step towards European payments autonomy. “This agreement shows that Europe’s payment sovereignty is not just an ambition, but a reality taking shape. Solutions like Wero are already live and trusted in multiple countries. By linking them through interoperability with our partners, we are laying the groundwork for a truly European payment ecosystem built on existing, proven solutions,” she said.
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