For decades, each European country’s local payment methods have worked well at home but inconsistently elsewhere. Wero is a digital wallet aimed at changing that. Wero uses Europe’s banking networks to create a payment method that is instant, interoperable, and Europe-owned.

Below, we’ll explain how Wero works, where it’s available, and why its rollout could redefine how money moves across the EU.

What’s in this article?

• What is Wero, and how does it work?
  
• Why is Wero important for Europe’s payments market?
  
• Who can use Wero, and where is it available?
  
• How does Wero compare with card payments?
  
• What are the benefits of Wero for businesses and customers?
  
• How will Wero affect cross-border payments in the EU?
  
• What’s next for Wero’s rollout and future features?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

What is Wero, and how does it work?

Wero is a pan-European digital wallet and payment system launched in 2024 by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a consortium of major banks and payment providers. Wero is designed to replace fragmented local systems with one network for instant account-to-account payments across Europe.

When you sign up for Wero, you link the system to your bank account and authenticate through your bank. Wero moves money directly between bank accounts in seconds. Each payment request is routed securely to your bank for real-time approval, often with biometric or app-based confirmation, and processed 24/7. Wero has a mobile interface that works across countries and banks and makes sending a payment as simple as sending a text message, all while running on bank-grade infrastructure.

With Wero, you can conduct:

• Person-to-person transfers: Send money to someone in seconds using their phone number or by scanning a QR code.

• Online payments: Choose Wero at checkout and confirm in your Wero or banking app.

• Payment requests: Request money from others, with instant settlement when they approve.

Why is Wero important for Europe’s payments market?

Over time, European countries each established preferred ways to pay. The Netherlands favored iDEAL for online payments. Germany favored domestic debit cards. Belgium favored Bancontact and Payconiq.

That fragmentation creates real costs. Businesses selling cross-border often have to integrate multiple payment methods to avoid losing sales, and businesses and customers depend more on global card networks and digital wallets when local methods don’t work between countries.

Though global, non-European payment methods work well, every transaction flows through external infrastructure, and fees and data leave the region. Because they’re not owned or governed in Europe, they limit Europe’s ability to set its own direction in payment innovation.

Wero addresses this problem. Because Wero is built and operated by European banks and stakeholders, decision-making stays in the region. Innovation can be shaped around European regulatory priorities, privacy standards, and market needs, and the network isn’t subject to outside corporate strategies or foreign regulatory changes.

By offering a single, bank-backed payment method across markets, Wero replaces a patchwork of domestic networks. Businesses integrate once and gain access to customers in multiple countries without stitching together local solutions. Small businesses can sell into other EU countries without needing to adopt unfamiliar payment methods, and customers can shop across borders without worrying about whether their local payment option will work.

Wero eliminates card network intermediaries, lowers transaction costs, and frees up European investment to improve one unified network instead of many parallel ones. Wero’s creators hope the service will become a unifying standard that strengthens Europe’s economic integration and global competitiveness.

Who can use Wero, and where is it available?

As of mid-2025, Wero is live for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments in:

• Belgium: Banks such as KBC, Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, and ING Belgium are in the Wero network.

• France: Wero is supported by major retail banks, including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, and Monabanq.

• Germany: Banks in the Wero network include the country’s savings banks (Sparkassen) and cooperative banks (Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken), plus Postbank and others.

If you bank with one of these institutions, you can use Wero or will be prompted to enable it soon. The Netherlands and Luxembourg are expected to roll out Wero in the following phase. The long-term goal is pan-European reach.

To access Wero, you download the Wero app or find Wero in your bank’s app, where it might appear as “Send money with Wero” or a similar option. Both routes connect to the same network, so a French customer using their bank’s app can send money to a German friend on the standalone Wero app with no setup differences and no compatibility gaps.

Business adoption is building in parallel. Online businesses in Germany will be able to add Wero through payment processors first. Belgium and France are next in line for ecommerce enablement. In-store payments are planned for the following phase.

If you’re a customer, Wero availability depends on whether your bank has joined. If you’re a business, it depends on whether your payment provider supports Wero. In both cases, the footprint is expanding quickly.

How does Wero compare with card payments?

Wero runs on a different model than traditional card payments.

Speed and settlement

• Wero transfers are instant and final. The recipient has the funds in their account within seconds, 24/7, including weekends and holidays.

• Card payment settlement often takes 1–3 days.

Intermediaries

• Wero payments move directly between bank accounts.

• Card payments run through multiple intermediaries: the acquiring bank, card network, and issuing bank.

Cost and fee structure

• Wero can be substantially cheaper for businesses to accept and is typically free for customers. There are no currency conversion fees for euro-denominated transactions.

• Card payments come with interchange fees and card scheme charges.

Security and fraud prevention

• Every Wero payment is bank-authenticated. You approve each transfer through your bank’s secure app or Wero’s interface, often via biometrics.

• Credit cards are vulnerable to fraudulent actors copying card numbers, expiry dates, or card verification values (CVVs) for online purchases.

Access to funds

• Wero payments draw directly from available funds, similar to a debit card or cash.

• Credit cards are a valuable option for those looking for a line of credit or credit card rewards.

What are the benefits of Wero for businesses and customers?

Wero’s value comes from a mix of speed, reach, cost efficiency, and security. Here’s what it offers businesses and customers:

Customer benefits

• One wallet for multiple use cases: People often juggle payment tools—one for splitting a bill, another for online checkout, another for in-store transactions. Wero combines all these tools into one system.

• Instant settlement: Payments clear instantly, with no pending status or end-of-day batch runs. P2P transfers land immediately, and businesses see a customer’s payment in real time.

• Visibility and control over spending: Wero connects to your bank account, so you see updated balances as you spend. Transaction histories make it easier to track where your money goes.

• Extra security: Every payment is authorized through your bank, usually with biometric or secure app confirmation. Wero builds in customer protection and an integrated dispute mechanism, something traditional bank transfers lack.

Business benefits

• Cross-border reach: One integration gives businesses access to Wero customers in multiple European countries. A business in Belgium can sell to a German customer using Wero without having to add separate local methods for each market.

• Lower acceptance costs: Payment service provider (PSP) pricing will vary, but Wero avoids interchange fees and card scheme charges.

• Stronger fraud prevention and fewer chargebacks: Because payments are authenticated by the customer’s bank, unauthorized transactions are less common. The dispute process is designed to resolve problems without exposing businesses to high rates of chargeback abuse.

• Immediate liquidity: Funds settle instantly, even outside banking hours. This can improve cash flow and reduce reliance on working capital buffers, particularly for businesses with tight settlement cycles.

• Omnichannel alignment: Once in-store support launches, businesses can offer the same payment method online, in app, and at physical points of sale. That consistency simplifies reconciliation, reporting, and customer communication.

How will Wero affect cross-border payments in the EU?

Buying from another EU country often means using a credit card or dealing with an unfamiliar local system. For example, an Italian shopper on a Dutch website might run into iDEAL-only checkout options or use a card and risk extra fees. Wero removes those barriers.

If the customer and business are on the network, the process allows for an instant transfer within the app with no extra setup. The same applies to P2P transfers. Because Wero is built for euro-denominated payments, it eliminates currency conversion steps and cross-border card fees. Businesses can price for customers across the bloc without padding prices to cover payment costs, and cross-border ecommerce and P2P transfers can be as low-cost as domestic ones.

Wero introduces a shared payment language across participating countries, which eliminates cultural barriers. That common standard can make customers more willing to buy from abroad and businesses more confident in serving them. There’s no need to check whether a card works in a given country, no risk of foreign transaction fees on euro payments, and no setup requirements beyond a phone, an internet connection, and a bank account. For travelers in the EU, Wero could make paying abroad as simple as paying at home.

What’s next for Wero’s rollout and future features?

Wero’s road map is ambitious. Belgium, France, and Germany are live for P2P payments, and the Netherlands and Luxembourg are expected to go live in 2026. Ecommerce in some countries will be live in the second half of 2025 through PSP integrations, and in-store payments are planned from 2026 onward. Once live, Wero will cover the full spectrum (P2P, online, and in person) through one payment method.

Additional planned capabilities include:

• Subscription management: View, pause, or cancel recurring payments in one place.

• Loyalty integration: Automatically link digital loyalty cards, apply rewards, or trigger offers when you pay.

If the European Central Bank launches a digital euro, Wero is positioned to support it natively. Users could hold and spend digital euros alongside bank account funds in the same app. This would make Wero a primary distribution channel for Europe’s central bank digital currency.

Growth will depend on customer adoption and industry buy-in. Each bank joining expands the network’s reach, and each new PSP that integrates Wero makes it easier for businesses to enable it. Early adopters will be positioned to benefit from new features and customer familiarity as Wero’s footprint grows. Wero’s goal is to become the default European payment standard.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment user interfaces (UIs), access to 125+ payment methods, and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.
  
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• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.
  
• Improve payments performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.
  
• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% uptime and industry-leading reliability.
  

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.