ibi Payment Report 2026: only 13 per cent of consumers have a Wero account
The ibi Payment Report 2026 by ibi research at the University of Regensburg shows a gap between bank strategy and everyday customer behaviour: the bank experts surveyed mostly rate Wero as strategically important, but only 13 per cent of consumers have a Wero account. More than 80 per cent have already used instant transfers, and only one in ten uses their own bank's wallet.
What happened
ibi research at the University of Regensburg published the ibi Payment Report 2026 on 15 September 2026; study partner S-Payment has been distributing it since 23 September. It is based on two online surveys: 1,029 consumers and 42 specialists and managers from the payments departments of credit institutions. The partners are S&N Group, S-Payment and VR Payment — companies that sell payment services themselves. The key figures: more than 80 per cent of consumers have already used instant transfers, yet three quarters of the experts see no sufficient competitive differentiation in them. 95 per cent of the experts expect wallet use to increase; PayPal is by far the most used wallet, ahead of Klarna, Google and Apple, and only one in ten uses their own bank's wallet. The institutions mostly consider Wero strategically important, but only 13 per cent of consumers have an account, two thirds of whom have already used it.
Who is affected
Merchants currently deciding whether Wero belongs in their checkout or at their till, and anyone calculating fees for payment methods — online and in-store alike.
Analysis
The most important figure is not in the headline but in the distance between two groups of respondents. Banks talk about Wero as a strategic project, while 87 per cent of customers do not yet have an account. That is no criticism of Wero; it is the normal position of a scheme that is only now rolling out in online retail and, according to EPI, will reach German points of sale gradually from 2027. But for the merchant it means: today Wero brings hardly any customers who would not have bought anyway.
The wallet figure is revealing too. If only one in ten uses their bank's wallet and PayPal leads across all generations, then it is not the bank that decides the payment method at checkout but the customer's habit. That is exactly what Wero is aiming at, and exactly why the question of the merchant fee matters more than any reach announcement. As long as EPI names no price, the calculation cannot be made. On the positive side: experts and consumers alike mostly see Verification of Payee as protection against fraud — a rare case of regulation actually reaching the customer.
What to do now
- Only plan Wero for your online shop if your payment service provider includes it at no extra charge — at 13 per cent account penetration, a separate integration does not pay off yet.
- Break down your own payment-method report by PayPal share and fees per method; that is your benchmark as soon as a Wero price is available.
- Do not plan any till changes for Wero before your payment network operator (Netzbetreiber) names a date for activation.