Wero's EU wallet gets another country on board

Five Belgian banks – Argenta, Bank Van Breda, Beobank,Crelan and vdk bank – say they will join the slow-building Wero wallet initiative next year. Wero, operated by the European Payments Initiative, is Europe’s effort to provide a payments network outside of Visa and Mastercard.

(It seems Donald Trump has not yet noticed this attempt to bypass American operators: maybe this slow rollout is a deliberate tactic?) Wero was joined by Revolut in June, along with the admittedly small Luxembourg banking sector. It plans to offer ecommerce services from later this year. Koen Spinoy, a member of the Executive Committee at Beobank, said that use of the bank’s mobile app had grown 300 percent in the last five years.

“Integrating payment solutions such as Wero is a logical next step in our digital evolution. Wero aligns perfectly with our commitment to provide innovative, secure, and convenient payment experiences that meet our customers’ everyday needs.” Wero operates on the SEPA rails, delivering payments within ten seconds.

Belgium last year launched one of the first European digital ID wallets for its citizens, which from this year will accept a digital driving licence.