EuroPA and EPI Partnership to Break Mastercard and Visa Dependency in European Payments

The European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) has been working to unify European payments since its official launch in November 2024, with the goal of developing a cross-border sovereign solution for the region. The European Payments Initiative (EPI), backed by 16 banks as founding shareholders across Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, launched the Wero wallet solution in Germany in mid-2024, and has since expanded to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, replacing solutions that lack cross-border interoperability. On June 23, their partnership was announced, with an initial goal to provide a fully interconnected payment system in 15 countries, accounting for 84% of the population of the European Union (EU) and Norway. 

While each of the firms has made progress alone, each has limitations. Created by an Italian interbank network and Spanish and Portuguese payment service providers, EuroPA has worked to connect national banking networks, launching instant cross-border payments in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Andorra. EuroPA is in the process of adding further firms to the partnership, but this linking process lacks rapid scalability. The EPI has faced cautious adoption of its Wero wallet, with banks initially slow to make the leap from familiar local apps such as Paylib in France and Giropay and Paydirekt in Germany.

Combined, EPI’s unified Wero platform is positioned to leverage EuroPA’s credibility and deeper banking network to prevent adoption stagnation and expand coverage, working toward the critical mass required to fulfill the goal of independence from non-EU payment processors with a cohesive, sovereign solution.

EuroPA and EPI face several challenges in achieving this goal. Displacing established wallets is difficult in an industry where consumer trust is paramount to adoption, and the facility for instant cross-border transactions alone may not be enough of a concern for some customers to make the switch. Therefore, the implementation of the wallet cannot rely solely on this feature, and the EPI will have to pay close attention to the capabilities of incumbent solutions to ensure that user priorities—which are likely to vary from nation to nation—are met.

Additionally, there have been multiple false starts in this market. Attempts such as the Monnet project, abandoned in 2012, have been thwarted by regulatory changes driving uncertainty around the business case, and critically, an overemphasis on back-end development and negotiating national protectionism with limited vision regarding the customer story and consumer buy-in. This is reflected by the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative, which provides the back-end portals to facilitate cross-border transfers, but lacks any consumer-facing aspect. Adoption remains low in some regions, and many banks still don’t support the initiative at all, while others charge fees for the facility. Customers must be placed at the heart of any project hoping to truly revolutionize the space, meaning the infrastructure of the legislative backbone and the networks of banks must be exposed to the end user effectively with a seamless digital experience and powerful message.

There is a clear story available to ensure that this time, citizens truly connect with the project. Sovereignty is increasingly important to EU consumers, and highlighting the independence gained if a sufficiently adopted solution is in place is likely to generate interest. This is a unique angle in marketing the solution, which may provide an edge over simple convenience arguments and generate traction in markets with existing dominant local wallets. To develop a truly invested userbase, this factor should be a key element in all messaging reaching potential adopters.