With worldwide geo-political changes, Europe must harness the full power of its consumer base to secure greater strategic independence. Having a unified Europe-based payment solution, such as Wero, is one major step in this direction. A sovereign payment framework will allow banks and payment providers to collaborate more efficiently across Europe, which will help diversify their offerings while lowering their cost base. Belgian financial institutions have consistently been early adopters of payment innovations in Europe and are well positioned to remain among the first movers in future developments.
Wero - Europe's instant payment solution
Attempts have been made to develop a European payment scheme to counter the dominance of US-based firms like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and digital wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
In 2020, 16 European banks launched the European Payment Initiative (EPI) with the objective of offering a pan-European card and digital wallet to compete with major US schemes. Over time, participating banks fluctuated, and the initial roadmap was abandoned when major banks stepped out of the project. This prompted the EPI to develop a solution based on existing SEPA instant payment rails - Wero.
Wero is a new digital payment solution that allows users to send and receive money in Europe easily and securely, without needing to know the recipient's account number. Wero offers instant bank-to-bank payments through the SEPA network, which means money moves from one bank account to another almost instantaneously, 24/7. As such, it offers a more cost-effective solution than existing card-based payment schemes.
Drivers of Wero's success
The close interdependence between Europe and the United States is coming under increasing strain. The transfer of sensitive payment data to US-based schemes provides them with strategic insights into transaction flows and customer behavior. In response, EU governments are seeking to retain greater control over this information within Europe.
In addition to the regulatory push, the following factors are contributing to the success of a pan-European payment scheme solution:
Successful launch in key European countries: In partnership with banks, the EPI has showcased the ability to replace existing national schemes successfully (examples include Payconiq in Belgium, iDeal in the Netherlands and Paylib in France). This has given confidence to banks in other countries or regions using proprietary solutions.
EuroPA collaboration: The European Payments Alliance consortium (EuroPA), consisting of payment apps Bizum (Spain), Bancomat (Italy), MB Way (Portugal) and Vipps MobilePay (Nordic countries), covers a major part of Europe not in the EPI scope. The consortium has agreed to investigate possible ways to collaborate and connect various tools to offer a truly seamless experience for merchants and users across Europe. This resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 2 February 2026.
User-centric design: The EPI-Wero roadmap aims to create a unified end-to-end solution, focusing on users' and merchants' needs to offer a seamless experience across all user touchpoints (e-commerce, P2P, in-store). The solution will offer at a minimum a similar service to the proprietary service it replaces in each market, minimizing the impact of migration on end-users.
Operational efficiency: By nature, Wero will bring significant process efficiencies compared to existing payment schemes. For example, no specific charge-back processes or central processing need to be set up, which will ultimately benefit users and merchants. Enhancements will also stem from the fact that one common rail replaces local developments in various countries.
Digital euro readiness: The digital Wero wallet is best placed to 'carry' the digital euro once launched, particularly as the EU government is keen to establish a European wallet to handle the digital euro.
Barriers that could block Wero's path
The stars may be aligned for Wero, however, there are still significant barriers to overcome.
Lack of unified European roadmap: One of the major hurdles is the lack of alignment between various European banks. This has given non-EU based schemes and digital wallets the chance to become dominant players in the market. Even though collaboration is being sought today, we are still far from a Europe-wide solution.
Building pan-European brand recognition: Establishing a unified brand name recognized across Europe is another major hurdle. Many local brands have become household names, as have major US schemes at the European level. Building a new brand name and introducing it as top-of-mind requires substantial investments and effort. Bizum in Spain is an example of a strong local brand that offers optimal servicing, having gained substantial market share in a short timeframe.
iOS and Android ecosystem dominance: The ease of use and high acceptance of iOS and Android payment methods is another barrier for a unified solution. iPhone is used by about 50% of the Belgian population and offers a seamless experience with Apple Pay functionality. A European solution needs to aim at the same user experience at a minimum. Apple’s iOS 18 opens its NFC communication tool to external partners, however low entry or cost barriers are required to have a level playing field.
Fragmented participation: As several major European banks are not part of the EPI consortium, the way forward towards a pan-European solution will not, at least in the short term, be a fully harmonized solution but rather an interfacing solution which might hinder customer and merchant experience. It will also remain an intra-Europe solution competing with schemes offering worldwide coverage.
Instant payment infrastructure dependency: EPI decided not to set up a payment scheme from scratch but to use the existing rail for handling instant payments. This requires that participating countries provide the underlying infrastructure outside of the SEPA region.
What role can Belgian banks play
The willingness to increase European autonomy on payment schemes is growing among institutions and governments. Today, the most advanced answer to this demand for European unification and autonomy is the EPI Wero solution.
Belgium has long been at the forefront of SEPA adoption and EU payments integration, and it remains one of Europe’s most cashless markets. Belgian financial institutions are well placed to continue acting as early movers in the next wave of transformation.
Implementing innovative technologies as early as possible will help demonstrate the Wero solution’s ability to seamlessly support all key transaction types (including e-commerce, P2P and in-store payments) through a single, efficient platform. A successful proof of concept will provide tangible evidence of its scalability and strategic value, helping build confidence among other banks in the importance of pursuing a shared initiative.
The greater momentum the solution gains, the stronger the support it is likely to receive from European governments. This, in turn, will encourage other banks to invest in Wero or at least offer customers a seamless payment experience within Europe and ultimately beyond.
By taking a frontrunner position, Belgian financial institutions can help shape the future of pan-European instant payments and strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. This could establish Belgium as a center of excellence for banking and payment innovations.
However, the window for first-mover advantage in Wero is narrowing. Banks that act decisively now will define the European payment landscape for the next decade.
How Capco supports Belgian banks with Wero transition
Capco has been a trusted partner to European banks in launching innovative payment products and navigating complex regulatory transformations such as PSD2 and instant payments implementations.
In 2026, we are actively supporting major Belgian banks with Wero implementation roadmaps, helping them keep pace with the ambitious timeline set by EPI.
Our Wero implementation support covers three critical pillars:
- Strategic roadmap development: We help banks determine which Wero capabilities to prioritize (e-commerce, P2P, in-store), how to sequence migration from existing schemes like Payconiq and how to position the solution to maximize customer adoption and competitive differentiation.
- Technical integration and infrastructure readiness: Our teams assess your instant payment rail maturity, identify integration requirements with core banking systems and design the technical architecture needed to deliver seamless customer experiences across all channels.
- Customer migration and change management: We develop migration strategies that minimize disruption, design communication campaigns that build customer confidence in the transition and create training programs that ensure your teams can support the new solution from day one.
Contact us to discuss how Capco can accelerate your Wero journey.