Tautalus
Regular Member
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- 580
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- Ethnic group
- Portuguese
- Y-DNA haplogroup
- I2-M223 / I-FTB15368
- mtDNA haplogroup
- H6a1b2y
European dominant domestic payment platforms and bank-backed infrastructures have launched a major collaboration to build a sovereign, interoperable pan-European digital payments network designed to reduce reliance on global card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard. The initiative brings together the European Payments Initiative (EPI), which operates the Wero digital wallet, and the EuroPA Alliance, which includes leading national payment systems such as Bizum in Spain, Bancomat in Italy, MB WAY/SIBS in Portugal, Vipps MobilePay in the Nordic countries, as well as BLIK in Poland and IRIS in Greece. The main goal is to enable seamless cross-border payments across Europe while preserving existing national apps and brands. This will be achieved through a shared interoperability hub that connects participating platforms, allowing users to continue using their preferred domestic payment applications while gaining the ability to send and receive money across borders. The system is based on account-to-account payments using SEPA Instant Credit Transfers and bank infrastructure rather than traditional card networks. The rollout is planned in phases, with cross-border peer-to-peer payments expected to launch in 2026, followed by expansion to e-commerce and physical point-of-sale payments in 2027. At launch, the network is expected to cover around 13 European countries, reaching approximately 130 million users and representing about 72 percent of the EU population. Strategically, this initiative represents one of Europe’s strongest moves toward digital and financial sovereignty in payments. It aims to strengthen bank-led payment infrastructure, improve competition in the payments market, and provide a European alternative to global card schemes and Big Tech payment platforms, while remaining complementary to future projects such as the digital euro.
The initiative will support several types of payments, rolled out in phases, account-to-account bank transfers:
Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments : This is the first use case. Individuals will be able to send money instantly to people in other European countries using their existing apps such as Bizum, Wero, or Vipps MobilePay.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) payments : These include everyday payments from consumers to merchants, such as in-store purchases and online shopping. Customers will be able to pay directly from their bank accounts using QR codes, NFC, or app-based authorization, without card networks.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) payments : This covers merchant payouts and refunds, for example e-commerce refunds, insurance claims, gig-economy payouts, or salary disbursements, enabling faster and cheaper settlement directly to customer bank accounts.
Business-to-business (B2B) payments : The network is also designed to support corporate payments such as supplier settlements and invoice payments, benefiting from instant settlement and cross-border interoperability.
Overall, the system is meant to cover the full spectrum of digital payments — from person-to-person transfers to retail and corporate use cases — using a unified European, bank-based infrastructure.
The initiative will support several types of payments, rolled out in phases, account-to-account bank transfers:
Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments : This is the first use case. Individuals will be able to send money instantly to people in other European countries using their existing apps such as Bizum, Wero, or Vipps MobilePay.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) payments : These include everyday payments from consumers to merchants, such as in-store purchases and online shopping. Customers will be able to pay directly from their bank accounts using QR codes, NFC, or app-based authorization, without card networks.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) payments : This covers merchant payouts and refunds, for example e-commerce refunds, insurance claims, gig-economy payouts, or salary disbursements, enabling faster and cheaper settlement directly to customer bank accounts.
Business-to-business (B2B) payments : The network is also designed to support corporate payments such as supplier settlements and invoice payments, benefiting from instant settlement and cross-border interoperability.
Overall, the system is meant to cover the full spectrum of digital payments — from person-to-person transfers to retail and corporate use cases — using a unified European, bank-based infrastructure.
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