A new European mobile payment system called Wero was officially launched in Belgium on Tuesday.
The system is now available through the apps of four major Belgian banks: Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, and CBC, as announced by the European Payments Initiative (EPI) in a press conference.
Wero users can instantly transfer and receive money using a QR code. For Belfius and CBC customers, it will also be possible to send money to contacts saved on their smartphone who are also registered on Wero. All transactions will be free and can be done directly from their usual banking app.
EPI has collaborated with the Bancontact Payconiq Company (BPC) to launch Wero in Belgium. Initially, Wero and the existing Payconiq payment app will continue to coexist.
Once Wero is fully integrated into Belgian banks and the transition period is complete, Payconiq will be replaced by Wero. The discontinuation date for Payconiq is expected to be announced in 2025.
BPC will also distribute Wero to merchants currently using Payconiq, allowing them to accept Wero payments in their stores without any changes to their existing setup.
Through this new payment method, EPI aims to compete with major international players such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. "We have a desire for independence; it is strategically important to keep the data associated with payments in Europe," emphasised EPI CEO Martina Weimert.
The launch of Wero in Belgium follows successful deployments in Germany in July and France at the end of September. The Netherlands and Luxembourg are expected to follow suit in the future.
