Comment by Ninn
17 days ago
Like sepa, this initiative can be forced by law and made open rather than tanken hostage by large cooperates, which may then exclude parts of the market.
17 days ago
Like sepa, this initiative can be forced by law and made open rather than tanken hostage by large cooperates, which may then exclude parts of the market.
Very European approach: the winner is chosen by law. Is Wero really a success? According to this article, in 2024 it processed over €7.5 billion.
Polish BLIK, which is not even mentioned in the article and which has joined the EuroPA Alliance, processed €83 billion in 2024, with a 30% y/y increase in H1 2025. I understand that BLIK is much older, but it invested significant effort and money in marketing and promotions while delivering a good user experience. BLIK is now trying to expand to Romania and Slovakia, yet Wero is getting all the hype on Hacker News. Maybe this is a case of East, South, and West Europe being treated differently. Is the only “European” solution one that comes from Western Europe?
Wero is very new, no wonder it’s not used a lot yet.
Wero is basically a rename (and territorial expansion) of the Dutch iDeal system, which processed €141 billion Euros in 2024.
not really
Wero acquired iDeal and integrated it (as well as Payconiq)
> Maybe this is a case of East, South, and West Europe being treated differently.
Just my pet peeve, but say Central Europe here, not East. Unless of course you mean Ukraine or Kazachstan.
Referring to old Iron Curtain is refueling the animosity of the ancient past.
If BLIK is better then it will prevail over Wero. There is no law mandating Wero.
Just looking at the banks that make up each - 16 for Wero and spread over Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands versus 6 Polish banks - it feels like the systemic risk is higher with the latter. But time will tell.
Last year BLIK also signed a letter of intent to join the EuroPA which has Italian, Spanish and Portuguese banks involved.
> Very European approach: the winner is chosen by law
Isn't that like the entire purpose of government and law - to help citizens come to a consensus?
No, in most of the cases government should not be the parent, but external arbiter.
The EU consists of 27 different countries, with substantial practical barriers between their internal markets (even if it's one single market in theory). Often, only EU intervention can overcome those barriers. Otherwise, you end up with national fragmentation.
Solve the problem and people will come. I don't see which problem Wero is solving. Cross country p2p money transfers? Not something people do often.
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