Comment by isodev
2 months ago
The EU (the ECB) is actively working towards a system similar to SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) but for cards [0]. This would enable card transfers to also become faster (SEPA is instantaneous even cross-border within the EU) also allow for operations not depending on Visa or Mastercard.
There is a major EU effort to develop an alternative 'instant payment' system that doesn't depend on Visa or Mastercard called Wero [1].
[0] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pubbydate/2019/html/ecb.card...
I had never heard of wero, despite living in Belgium and having been actively involved in fintech. Android also tells me that the app is not available in my country.
Sounds like it's supposed to replace Payconiq (which is currently the biggest mobile payment service in Belgium).
The fragmentation of payment services is starting to annoy me. I can use cash or cards everywhere in the eurozone with 100% compatibility. But every handful of banks in every country has decided to create their own payment "solution". Typically using Android & iOS apps that require an insane number of permissions (including location and wifi connections!?).
Looks like wero is just more of the same. Another non-standard that's only supported by a handful banks in a handful of countries. And I'll bet it won't work on rooted android devices, and that there won't be a web version.
At least it's built on top of SEPA Instant Payments, which is a step forward...
I believe Wero is just a service (doesn't have an app or anything like that). You'd activate it from your existing bank's app. For example, the KBC app has a Wero icon you can use to enable payments via the system.
But generally I agree it's not an ideal situation and I fully blame Apple for the current state of things - all QR-code based systems (payconiq, Bancontact, etc.) could've been avoided if apps could provide payments and access NFC from the start but here we are.
There is also the Digital Euro project. Though no timeline exists yet.
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.ht...
wero is a private company, from Belgium, not an EU initiative.
In the same vibe you have Lydia in France that is successful.
I think the EU calls for a decentralised approach with multiple cross border providers.
Wero is technically from Benelux as there are origins in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. There are also other initiatives in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, … to create alternative card payment system that is also resilient to internet failure.