Wero's Autumn 2026 NFC Payments Will Use Card Rails, Not SEPA Instant

EPI plans for Wero NFC contactless payments from autumn 2026 will initially route transactions through existing CB, Visa, and Mastercard card networks. True account-to-account NFC payments bypassing card schemes are not expected until the second half of 2027.

BPCE's April 20 press release confirmed that Wero will support NFC contactless payments on iPhone and Android from autumn 2026. EPI communicated to Moneyvox that this initial implementation will be card-based. Users will load their existing CB, Visa, or Mastercard credentials into the Wero wallet to make tap-to-pay purchases at physical terminals.

The card-based approach replicates the functionality of Apple Pay and Google Pay rather than replacing it. Merchants will continue to pay interchange and card scheme fees. Settlement will follow standard card processing timelines of one to three business days. For EPI, the autumn 2026 launch establishes Wero as a POS-capable wallet ahead of the more significant infrastructure shift.

SEPA Instant Credit Transfer-based NFC is planned for the second half of 2027. Payments would route through the ECB's TIPS infrastructure rather than card networks. This would eliminate card scheme fees and shift settlement from multi-day cycles to near-instant fund arrival.