European Union and EPI (European Payments Initiative) Intend to Boost Real-Time Cross-Border Payment Capabilities within Europe
The European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) have joined forces in a strategic partnership aimed at creating a unified cross-border payment solution across Europe. This initiative seeks to strengthen European payment sovereignty and reduce reliance on USD-backed stablecoins and dominant US card networks like Visa and Mastercard.
At the heart of the partnership, EuroPA, a coalition of national payment schemes such as Bizum, Bancomat, and MB Way, focuses on enabling cross-border instant payments by connecting these domestic systems for seamless mobile transactions across multiple EU countries. The alliance includes mobile payment players across Europe, such as Bancomat, Bizum, Blik, MB WAY (SIBS), and Vipps MobilePay.
Simultaneously, EPI, a broader strategic alliance of influential European financial institutions, is working on building a pan-European payment system and digital wallet called Wero. This digital wallet is being expanded to support cross-border and merchant payments, leveraging the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) real-time payments protocol to create an interoperable mobile platform. EPI's initial focus has been the Wero digital wallet, a unified mobile payment solution for retail transactions, currently available in Germany, Belgium, and France.
The merger of efforts between EuroPA and EPI under a unified EU payment framework is planned to cover up to 15 countries and over 380 million consumers. This would replace fragmented national solutions with an integrated network that ensures faster settlements, lower processing costs, reduced fraud, consumer convenience, and enhanced data privacy consistent with EU regulations.
By creating a European-controlled payment infrastructure, the partnership addresses concerns over US dollar-backed stablecoins and the dominance of Visa and Mastercard by providing an alternative to high-fee card networks. The new solution also promotes financial sovereignty and competition within Europe.
The European Commission and the Eurosystem have stated that interconnecting existing payment solutions is one of the fastest ways to strengthen the payments system in Europe. Both organisations support this endeavour, with provisions also being made for countries that don't yet have established systems of their own.
As the partnership progresses, EPI plans to evolve Wero into an all-encompassing platform, supporting recurring payments and buy now, pay later options. The European Payments Initiative aims to support all payment types, from peer-to-peer (P2P) payments to enterprise-level transactions.
The growing concern in Europe over the dominance of Visa and Mastercard, especially as USD-backed stablecoins gain traction in the region, has been a driving force behind this partnership. The collaboration between EuroPA and EPI represents a major step toward Europe's digital financial autonomy and market integration.
The partnership between EuroPA and EPI, focusing on finance and technology, aims to construct a unified cross-border payment solution, thereby reducing Europe's reliance on USD-backed stablecoins and US card networks like Visa and Mastercard. Utilizing EuroPA's network of domestic systems and EPI's pan-European digital wallet called Wero, this initiative seeks to establish an interoperable mobile platform for lifestyle transactions, encompassing recurring payments and buy now, pay later options, ultimately enhancing consumer convenience and financial sovereignty within Europe.
%20Intend%20to%20Boost%20Real-Time%20Cross-Border%20Payment%20Capabilities%20within%20Europe){kind=link}