Wero, Bizum and others found the European Network for Payments — merchants only come in phase two
On 30 September 2026 Bancomat, Bizum, EPI/Wero, SIBS-MB WAY and Vipps MobilePay set up a joint company headquartered in Madrid to connect their payment solutions across borders. Together the five reach around 130 million users in 13 countries. Person-to-person payments come first; e-commerce and the shop till follow later, with no date.
What happened
On 30 September 2026 five European payment solutions — Bancomat (Italy), Bizum (Spain), EPI with Wero, SIBS with MB WAY (Portugal) and Vipps MobilePay (Nordics) — founded the “European Network for Payments”. The company is based in Madrid and the five founders hold equal shares. It is to operate the joint interoperability hub the partners had already announced in their memorandum of understanding of February 2026, built on European standards including instant account-to-account payments. According to EPI, the solutions together reach around 130 million users in 13 countries, more than 70 per cent of the population of the EU and Norway. The rollout starts with cross-border payments between individuals; e-commerce and in-store payments are to follow in later phases.
Who is affected
Merchants with customers from southern Europe and Scandinavia — tourism, hospitality in border and holiday regions, and online shops shipping to other EU countries. Also payment network operators (Netzbetreiber) and acquirers who already plan to bring Wero to the terminal and now need to know whether four more schemes will soon stand behind it.
Analysis
Ten days ago I wrote in my commentary on Wero that EPI asks merchants for a decision without telling them a price. This founding changes nothing about that. It does change the size of the argument: a German-French-Belgian scheme becomes a bridge to Spain, Italy, Portugal and the north. If that reaches the till, Europe has an account-to-account network that also works when people travel, and that is exactly where the card schemes have no alternative today.
That “if” is a big one, however. The sequence is clearly stated: individuals first, then online, then the shop. There is no date for merchants, and Wero itself only reaches the shop till in Germany broadly in 2027. For terminal planning the network is therefore a signal today, not a reason to act.
What to do now
- Ask your payment network operator whether your terminals can technically support Wero, and whether that is a software update or would need a device swap.
- Do not sign long-term contracts that exclude new payment methods or only allow them at extra cost.
- Know the share of your revenue from customers from Spain, Italy, Portugal and Scandinavia — that determines when the network starts to pay off for you.