Bancomat, SIBS-MB WAY, and EPI Company completed a joint proof of concept on April 16, 2026. The test demonstrated that users of each mobile payment application can perform QR-code-based person-to-merchant payments at merchants in other participating networks. This is the first concrete technical output from the Memorandum of Understanding signed by five European payment solutions on February 2, 2026. The MoU partners collectively serve approximately 130 million users across 13 countries.
La Banque Postale, Intesa Sanpaolo, and 28 Portuguese financial institutions comprising MB WAY's membership provided operational support for the validation. The hub model routes cross-border transactions through a central interoperability layer while each domestic scheme retains its own user interface and brand. A Wero user in Germany or France would scan a QR code at a Bancomat-accepting merchant in Italy, with the transaction settling through the respective national instant payment rail.
The PoC tested person-to-merchant payments even though the February MoU's published roadmap sequences cross-border P2P first in 2026 and commercial payments only in 2027. The early merchant-payment validation suggests the technical infrastructure for cross-border retail transactions is more advanced than the phased rollout implies. Bizum, Vipps MobilePay, and Blik signed the MoU but did not participate in this initial PoC. The central interoperability entity is scheduled for establishment by mid-2026. Production cross-border P2P payments are planned for later this year. QR-based merchant payments at scale are targeted for 2027.