Overview
- The European Payments Initiative announced in Frankfurt that Wero now works for e‑commerce, expanding beyond peer‑to‑peer transfers.
- Early retailer integrations include Eventim, Lidl, Rossmann, Decathlon, Zooplus, Hornbach, CEWE, Cineplex, Dott, Air Europa, Veepee and BAUR, with EPI targeting availability at about 150 merchants by year‑end.
- At launch the service is usable for customers of Sparkassen and Volks‑ und Raiffeisenbanken, with Deutsche Bank and Postbank expected to activate in the coming weeks followed by ING Deutschland and Revolut.
- EPI reports more than 46 million users across Europe, including roughly 1.3 million in Germany, with real‑time bank‑to‑bank transfers completing in under 10 seconds.
- In‑store point‑of‑sale payments are planned for 2026–2027, and the service still must prove buyer‑protection performance as it seeks to challenge PayPal and card networks.