Five Belgian banks will be joining the new unified European mobile payment system – called the European Payments Initiative (EPI), or Wero – aiming to facilitate payments across the Eurozone.
Wero launched in Belgium in November 2024, making the "digital wallet" available in the apps of four major banks in Belgium – Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, and CBC/KBC. From early 2026, these will be joined by five more prominent banks in the country: Argenta, Bank Van Breda, Beobank, Crelan and vdk bank.
"Wero is a European project, and it starts with 'us' – the citizens – in our daily lives and local communities," said Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI. "The local presence of these new members and their trusted relationship with their customers will be essential in making Wero a reliable and indispensable payment solution in the daily lives of Europeans across the continent. Together, we are shaping a truly European solution."
How does it work?
Wero users can instantly transfer and receive money for free using a QR code. The system's Belgian launch was organised in collaboration with the Bancontact Payconiq Company (BPC), which operates the digital payment app Payconiq.
Payconiq is widely used by individuals and businesses, but it only works for Belgian banks. As a result, this excludes a large proportion of expats, who often keep using accounts from banks in their home countries and can therefore not access the system.
Therefore, such a unified European system would also have significant benefits for expats living in Belgium. While the two systems coexist now, the aim is for Wero – which has 16 founding shareholders and over 20 members based in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – to eventually replace Payconiq.
Credit: Belga/Thierry Roge
Wero works in much the same way as Payconiq: a person's phone number is linked to their bank account, or they can pay via a QR code. This removes the need to share IBAN and bank details to make a payment.
People whose bank has integrated Wero can easily create an account via their banking app using their mobile phone number. Speed is a big advantage with Wero: transactions should be completed within 10 seconds, rather than the two or three days that traditional transfers can sometimes take.
However, these payments are only possible between people with access to Wero.
Becoming pan-European
The arrival of these five banks strengthens EPI's presence in Belgium and expands its national coverage. With the recent arrivals of neobank Revolut and five Luxembourg banks, the increase in EPI membership underscores the growing adoption of Wero across Europe.
Once Argenta, Beobank, Crelan and vdk bank also roll out the service in the first half of next year, their customers will be able to access Wero services directly from their banking apps, enabling them to make instant account-to-account payments. They will enjoy a "seamless and secure experience for their daily transactions."
The fifth new member, Bank Van Breda, will not integrate the system into its own app, but instead use the standalone Wero app, which its customers can download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Available since summer 2024 for transactions between individuals in Belgium, France and Germany, Wero already has more than 40 million registered users. Wero will begin offering online payments in the second half of 2025, followed by in-store payments, subscription management and loyalty services from 2026.
