Europe's Wero alliance unites 130M users behind Visa/Mastercard alternative

Five major European mobile payment networks — France’s Wero, Spain’s Bizum, Italy’s Bancomat, Portugal’s MB WAY, and the Nordic Vipps MobilePay — are merging into a single interoperable system covering roughly 130 million existing users across 13 countries. The goal is a sovereign payment rail that keeps transaction data off US-controlled infrastructure operated by Visa and Mastercard, addressing a long-standing concern voiced by ECB president Christine Lagarde.

A jointly owned interoperability hub is set to launch in the first half of 2026, enabling cross-border peer-to-peer transfers between the national apps without users changing platforms. Online and in-store payments are slated for 2027, with the eventual footprint reaching about 72% of the EU and Norway’s population. The existing EuroPA bridge linking Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Andorra since March 2025 serves as the working prototype, having moved six million euros without marketing.

The move is as much geopolitical as commercial. By routing everyday transactions through European-owned infrastructure, the bloc reduces its exposure to extraterritorial US jurisdiction over financial data — a recurring vulnerability that has driven similar sovereignty pushes in cloud and identity.