Bancomat, EPI, and SIBS-MB WAY announced on April 16, 2026 the successful completion of a joint proof of concept demonstrating cross-border QR-code-based person-to-merchant payment interoperability. The test confirmed that users of Bancomat in Italy, Wero across its active markets, and MB WAY in Portugal could perform retail transactions at merchants in each other's networks. La Banque Postale represented Wero on the issuing side. Intesa Sanpaolo provided supporting infrastructure for Bancomat. Twenty-eight Portuguese member banks backed MB WAY.
The PoC validated what EPI describes as a central interoperability model. Each domestic payment application retained its own user interface and branding while routing cross-border merchant payments through shared infrastructure. The model avoids forcing any participating scheme to abandon its domestic identity, a design choice intended to preserve existing user trust and adoption. EPI CEO Martina Weimert stated that cross-border payments with local schemes will step by step become the norm across Europe. SIBS COO Teresa Mesquita said the PoC establishes foundations for a truly interoperable European ecosystem that is independent and resilient.
The result moves the EuroPA alliance closer to its production milestones. Cross-border peer-to-peer payments between member schemes are scheduled for 2026. Extension to e-commerce and NFC-based point-of-sale interoperability is planned for 2027. The combined network of five EuroPA alliance participants and Wero spans approximately 130 million users across 13 European countries, covering roughly 72 percent of the EU and Norway population.
Bizum in Spain and Vipps MobilePay in the Nordics signed the February 2026 MoU alongside Bancomat, SIBS-MB WAY, and EPI but did not participate in this initial PoC. Their eventual inclusion would extend the interoperability framework to the Iberian and Nordic domestic payment networks. For merchants, the central interoperability model offers access to a cross-border customer base larger than any single national scheme without requiring separate integrations per country.