The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has launched its mobile-first wallet and instant account-to-account payments system in Germany, with other counties set to follow in the coming months.
German Sparkassen and Volksbanken, Raiffeisenbanken customers can now make instant money transfers from account to account between individuals, via their banking app. Deutsche Bank will launch wero later this year, starting with Postbank.
The wallet will be available in Belgium by the end of July for KBC customers before arriving in France this Autumn and coming to all EPI bank members within the next six months.
EPI is a Europe-wide bank-backed venture that was initially set up to build a rival to Mastercard and Visa on the continent, offering a card for consumers and merchants, a digital wallet and P2P payments.
Initially backed by 31 major Eurozone banks, the project was forced to reassess when half its members - including Germany's Commerzbank and DZ Bank - left in 2022.
Since then, EPI has acquired Dutch payment scheme iDeal and Luxembourg's Payconiq as the foundation for the wero wallet, beginning with P2P payments.
Next year, wero will get the ability to pay any small professional from the wallet, and also pay merchants online and upon invoices via QR code. This includes the ability for consumers to manage recurring payments for subscriptions or installments, but also to pay in merchant apps at point of sale without going through the cashier.
In-store payments at the cash register will also be added in 2026, along with other capabilities, such as BNPL, merchant loyalty, programme integration and expense sharing.
Martina Weimert, CEO, EPI, says: "To familiarise consumers with wero, we’re starting with person-to-person transactions, but wero’s aim in the future is to offer all kind of payments through a single wallet combining the simplicity, immediacy and security of the banks."