EPI completes first account-to-account mobile transfer in Europe

By Gloria Methri

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has announced the completion of its first account-to-account instant payment transactions with wero, EPI’s newly developed instant payment solution. This milestone was achieved through a proof of concept conducted between customers from Sparkasse Elbe-Elster in Germany and Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne (Groupe BPCE) in France.

The inaugural transaction, worth €10, was sent from a German account to a French account via the easy-to-use new payment solution. The advanced technology employed by both banks ensured that the transfer was instant. Subsequently, the bank teams proceeded to conduct several additional transactions throughout the day, moving various amounts of euros between the designated accounts.

Looking ahead, EPI plans to extend the use of wero to the first pilot users within its member banks in Belgium, France, and Germany in the new year.

Martina Weimert, the CEO of EPI said, “The successful execution of our first account-to-account instant payment transactions with wero demonstrates our capacity to deliver value and innovation to consumers and merchants in Europe. I thank the dedicated teams for their relentless pursuit of this accomplishment. We have now launched our concrete journey of delivering all kinds of payment use cases and related services to the market and are moving towards our goal of changing the way Europe pays.”

Yves Tyrode, CEO of Digital & Payments, Groupe BPCE added, “Groupe BPCE, a founding member of EPI, is delighted to have played an active role in this major milestone for EPI in collaboration with the German Savings Banks Association. As fervent promoters of a unified instant payment solution for Europe, our contribution to bringing the first transactions to life was obvious to us. It also illustrates our ambition to integrate the EPI solution, wero, into the mobile banking apps of Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne to continue to bring ever greater value to their customers.”

As per the outlined roadmap, wero will be integrated into the applications of EPI’s member banks, in addition to being available as a standalone mobile app on both Android and iOS platforms. EPI is actively engaged in preparing for the 2024 commercial launch of wero in Belgium, France, and Germany, with subsequent expansion planned for the Netherlands and other countries in the future.