On 2 July 2020, 31 European banks and acquirers from across the eurozone formally announced the creation of the European Payments Initiative (EPI). The initiative aimed to build a unified European payment solution - a card scheme and digital wallet - that would reduce the continent's strategic dependence on the American card networks Visa and Mastercard.
The Strategic Motivation
European policymakers and central bankers had long expressed concern about the market leadership of non-European payment schemes in the domestic European market. After the collapse of previous attempts to build a European card scheme (notably the Monnet Project), EPI represented the most ambitious attempt to create a European alternative.
The initiative was backed by major European banks including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING, Societe Generale, and UniCredit, among others. It had explicit political support from the European Commission and the ECB, both of which viewed European payment sovereignty as a strategic priority.
The Original Vision
EPI's original plan was comprehensive: a pan-European card, a digital wallet for online and in-store payments, and person-to-person transfers - all built on the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) rail. The vision was to create a single payment solution that Europeans could use across all eurozone countries, replacing fragmented national solutions with a unified scheme.
Evolution to Wero
The road from announcement to implementation proved challenging. Several founding members withdrew from the initiative, citing concerns about the business case and investment requirements. EPI narrowed its initial scope, focusing first on a digital wallet solution rather than a full card scheme.
In 2024, EPI launched its consumer-facing product under the brand name Wero, initially offering person-to-person payments in France, Germany, and Belgium, with plans to expand to e-commerce and point-of-sale payments. The evolution from the original comprehensive vision to the focused Wero launch reflected the practical challenges of building pan-European payment infrastructure.
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