Europe is taking another step towards a more connected payments ecosystem.<\/p>\n
Bizum, Bancomat, SIBS-MB WAY, Vipps MobilePay and EPI<\/strong>, the organisation behind Wero, have signed an agreement to advance the interoperability of some of Europe\u2019s leading payment solutions.<\/p>\n The goal is ambitious: to enable consumers and merchants to make and receive cross-border payments across Europe using the payment solutions they already know and use in their local markets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The initiative currently brings together solutions used by around 130 million people<\/strong> and is expected to cover 13 European countries.<\/p>\n But what does this interoperability actually mean, and what could it mean for the future of online payments in Europe?<\/p>\n Europe\u2019s digital payments landscape has one defining characteristic: many countries have highly adopted local payment solutions.<\/p>\n Spain has Bizum<\/strong>. Portugal has MB WAY<\/strong>. Italy has Bancomat<\/strong>, while Vipps MobilePay<\/strong> operates across the Nordic countries. They are joined by Wero<\/strong>, developed by the European Payments Initiative (EPI).<\/p>\n The strategy is not about replacing these solutions with a single European app.<\/p>\n Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n Bizum will remain Bizum, and MB WAY will remain MB WAY.<\/strong> Each solution will retain its own brand, features and user experience.<\/p>\n The innovation will happen behind the scenes.<\/p>\n The participating companies aim to develop a central interoperability hub that acts as a technical layer between the different solutions, allowing transactions to flow seamlessly across them.<\/p>\n The result could be an ecosystem where consumers can continue using their preferred payment method even when making transactions outside their home market.<\/p>\n This future is not starting from scratch.<\/p>\n Bizum, Bancomat and MB WAY have already made progress in connecting their respective systems through EuroPA, the European Payments Alliance.<\/p>\n This interoperability enables cross-border P2P payments<\/strong> between users in Spain, Andorra, Italy and Portugal using just a phone number and their usual payment solution.<\/p>\n The next step is to significantly expand this network.<\/p>\n The new collaboration brings additional European players into the ecosystem and sets out a two-phase roadmap:<\/p>\n It is this second phase that could have the greatest implications for merchants, marketplaces and businesses selling across multiple European markets.<\/p>\n For an international ecommerce business, accepting payments across different countries means understanding the preferences of each local market.<\/p>\n A Spanish consumer may be used to paying with Bizum, while a Portuguese consumer may prefer MB WAY. Across Europe, payment habits and preferred solutions vary significantly from one market to another.<\/p>\n Interoperability introduces a different possibility: preserving the local payment experience while giving the underlying payment infrastructure European reach.<\/strong><\/p>\n This could be particularly relevant for businesses selling internationally.<\/p>\n Offering familiar payment methods can help reduce friction at checkout and allow businesses to adapt the payment experience to each market without requiring consumers to adopt a completely new solution.<\/p>\n For marketplaces and ecommerce businesses operating internationally, greater interoperability could also pave the way for a more connected European payments infrastructure.<\/p>\n The initiative also reflects a broader trend across the payments industry: the growth of instant account-to-account (A2A) payments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The proposed interoperability model will be supported by European standards and infrastructure and will include this type of payment.<\/p>\n Rather than building a single solution for the whole of Europe from scratch, the approach is to connect payment methods and infrastructure that already have millions of users<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This makes it possible to preserve the trust and recognition of established local brands while extending their reach across borders.<\/p>\n The initial scale of the project is significant.<\/p>\n Together, the payment solutions participating in the initiative serve approximately 130 million users<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At launch, the project is expected to cover 13 European countries<\/strong>, representing around 72% of the combined population of the European Union and Norway.<\/p>\n The initiative will also remain open to additional European markets.<\/p>\n Countries that already have a domestic payment solution will be able to connect it to the network, while markets without their own infrastructure could adopt one of the participating solutions.<\/p>\n The ultimate goal is to move towards a pan-European payment experience without losing the diversity that currently defines the market.<\/p>\n Interoperability between European payment solutions is still being developed, and its rollout will be gradual.<\/p>\n However, the roadmap makes 2027 a particularly important year for ecommerce<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That is when the model is expected to expand to online purchases and in-store payments.<\/p>\n If the initiative progresses as planned, consumers could use their preferred payment solution across a much wider range of European merchants, while businesses could reach customers in different markets through interoperable payment infrastructure.<\/p>\n Europe does not necessarily appear to be moving towards a single European payment method<\/strong>. Instead, it is moving towards something different: a network in which different payment solutions can work together.<\/strong><\/p>\n For ecommerce businesses, marketplaces and payment service providers, this development reinforces a trend that is already reshaping the industry: delivering increasingly local consumer experiences through increasingly connected infrastructure.<\/p>\n At Wannme<\/strong>, we closely follow the evolution of payment methods and the new infrastructure shaping the future of digital payments in Europe.<\/p>\n Because the more connected European ecommerce becomes, the more important it is for businesses to offer customers the payment methods they already know, use and trust<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Want to offer Bizum and MB WAY<\/strong> to your customers? Discover our solution<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From local payment methods to a European network<\/h2>\n
Interoperability is already underway<\/h2>\n
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What could this mean for European ecommerce?<\/h2>\n
Instant and account-to-account payments: another key part of the picture<\/h2>\n
130 million users across 13 countries<\/h2>\n
2027 could be a key year for online payments in Europe<\/h2>\n