Wero’s pan-European vision: an interview with EPI and Worldline

Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI, and Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, CEO of Worldline, share insights into building sovereign, seamless payments with Wero – one product, one integration.

With the Wero ecommerce launch starting in Germany and expanding to other markets throughout 2026, how is EPI working with partners like Worldline to ensure strong adoption and consistent user experience across Europe?

Martina Weimert: We collaborate closely with partners like Worldline. In fact, Worldline holds a unique position, as they are not only one of our shareholders but also an active member. This dual role means we work together on both the ownership of the project itself and operational levels for Wero development and implementation. For example, we're jointly tackling key aspects like merchant integration and go-to-market strategies.

This requires strong alignment because neither party can succeed alone – it's a joint effort. And it's not just about us and Worldline; it involves the broader market ecosystem. Achieving wide market coverage is essential. Building momentum through volume is crucial, as no merchant wants to be the lone early adopter. That’s why coordinating the market so that a critical mass is ready simultaneously is key to driving adoption and generating real interest.

Worldline has confirmed readiness for the ecommerce launch of Wero in Germany this summer. What does this milestone represent for Worldline, and what kind of support will be provided to merchants integrating Wero into their checkout experience?

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron: This has been a very important learning journey for us. From the outset, we've been strong believers in the potential of Wero. Across many European markets, we’ve seen clear signs that instant payment-based solutions like this could eventually displace traditional debit cards.

We've been investing alongside Wero from day one, contributing directly to the development of the specifications. What we’re seeing now is significant interest from merchants, and for good reason. There's a clear appeal in terms of sovereignty and more favourable pricing conditions. Merchants also anticipate that the user experience will be very strong for consumers.

In fact, both we and EPI have conducted user experience benchmarks comparing Wero with other popular payment methods, and the results place us among the top performers, which is encouraging.

We're starting with the minimum viable product (MVP), focused on basic payments. From there, we’ll progressively add more value, including features like instalment payments and other enhancements. There's a well-defined roadmap, and we're ensuring that in key markets like Germany, we’re covering all relevant use cases and aligning with local consumer expectations and habits.

How does Wero reflect EPI’s broader vision of European payment sovereignty, and what role do trusted infrastructure providers like Worldline play in turning that vision into a scalable reality?

Martina Weimert: To begin with, as you may know, Wero operates under a distinctly European governance model. The European identity is embedded in the very foundation of the initiative – it’s part of our statutes. To become a shareholder, a company must be European, reinforcing our commitment to building a homegrown solution. The technology itself is entirely developed in-house. There’s no reliance on US or other international providers, making our platform completely independent from current geopolitical dynamics. That independence has been a guiding principle from the start, not just a reaction to recent global tensions.

Of course, this approach comes with trade-offs. We’re limited in some choices and don’t have access to some global solutions, as they don’t respect these commitments. But by building everything ourselves within Europe and pushing through the entire value chain, we gain significant advantages in autonomy and flexibility. We don’t need to seek approvals, pay royalties, or implement mandated features from global schemes. We control our own roadmap.

What’s also unique – and quite powerful – is our governance model that brings together both acquirers and banks as shareholders. To my knowledge, this kind of structure exists only in Australia. Most other solutions are either backed solely by banks or by financial investors. In our case, having a balanced shareholder base enables alignment on common interests right from the outset, even before we go to market. That’s critical, especially since we’re not first movers. The market is already evolving, so our competitive strength must come from exceptional coordination and alignment.

How many people does Worldline aim to target across Europe? What is the strategy to drive merchant adoption at scale, and how does Wero stand out compared to existing payment methods already in use?

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron: As you know, Worldline is the only pan-European player in this space. We hold strong positions across several key markets – including Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, France (notably through Paylib), as well as Italy and Greece. This gives us a unique and strategic role in supporting the sovereignty that Martina referred to, and a distinctive capability to deploy EPI and Wero across multiple geographies.

We’re starting with the core markets, but as demand for Wero acceptance grows in other countries – and there are already promising candidates – we’re actively working with EPI to prepare for expansion. Thanks to our shared platforms and infrastructure, we’re able to scale acceptance efficiently across different markets. That’s a real differentiator.

Regarding your second question – the benefits of Wero compared to card payments – the key advantage lies in the quality of the user experience, both for consumers and merchants. The digital journey is seamless and modern, and the way the product has been designed by Martina’s team is truly outstanding. We’re proud to be bringing this product to market.

With Belgium and France set to follow in 2025 and 2026 with ecommerce, and the Netherlands and Luxembourg later in 2026, how is the phased rollout being coordinated to ensure a consistent experience for both merchants and consumers across different markets?

Martina Weimert: The rollout is indeed progressive, as you mentioned, but it's important to highlight that the product and technical setup remain consistent across all markets. This is intentional – we’re delivering a single, unified product. That consistency matters because it allows merchants to integrate once and have that integration work across all geographies. They don’t need to re-integrate for each country – once they’re connected, they’re connected everywhere.

Of course, there are specific efforts required for local migrations. For instance, in the Netherlands, we’re managing the migration from iDEAL, just as we previously handled the transition from Paylib in France. These local migrations are complex: they involve ensuring volume continuity, coordinating with stakeholders, maintaining a secure experience for consumers, and minimising disruption for merchants. But the ultimate destination is the same – a single, pan-European solution.

We’ve intentionally designed this as a European solution, capable of accommodating the specific needs and use cases of each market. For example, when it comes to person-to-person (P2P) payments, some countries focus more on sending money, while others prioritise payment requests. EPI supports both functionalities. In the Netherlands, 90% of usage may involve requesting payments, whereas in France, it’s the opposite – 90% is about sending. Our platform integrates both, because both are essential and already widely used.

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron: Just to add to Martina’s point – it’s crucial to remember that Wero is built on top of the instant payment infrastructure, which is standardised across Europe. On that foundation, we layer value-added services defined by the scheme, and these are available uniformly across all geographies. So in the end, it really is one product serving all European markets.

As a founding member and active shareholder of EPI, how has Worldline’s involvement influenced the design and development of Wero to meet the expectations of digital-first consumers and merchants?

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron: Like all stakeholders in EPI, we’ve contributed actively to the development process. Our presence across different segments and geographies has given us valuable insights into what merchants expect – and that perspective has been instrumental.

That said, it’s been a truly collaborative effort from the start. We participated in workshops alongside merchants to ensure that there was a shared understanding between us, the merchant community, and EPI. The goal was to align on needs and expectations from day one.

This collective, large-scale approach is what makes Wero so unique. Its design has been shaped not in isolation, but through genuine collaboration with the ecosystem it’s meant to serve.

How does Wero contribute to a more sovereign and simplified European payment ecosystem, and what is Worldline’s plan to expand its adoption beyond the initial launch markets?

Martina Weimert: As I mentioned earlier, our foundation is built on strong European governance and fully homegrown technology. The solution is entirely developed in Europe – it’s our own build. That independence is essential, especially in today’s geopolitical climate.

Equally important is our openness. The initiative is designed to welcome new participants. If other communities want to join – whether as members or shareholders – they can. We also provide flexibility for smaller banks that may not have the scale of larger institutions; they can group together and still become shareholders. The idea is to keep the model inclusive and accessible.

Our goal has always been to create an open ecosystem – ‘We’ + ‘Euro’ = Wero – this is a collective European effort. And as we’ve said before, this isn’t a top-down push to the market. It’s a collaborative, co-creative process with providers and constant feedback from merchants. We firmly believe that success in Europe can only come through working together – across players, providers, and the wider market.

That’s why we’re proactively engaging with other payment solutions to explore cooperation opportunities. Combined, these solutions already represent around 120 million customers – a very strong starting point. While it’s not yet all of Europe, we already cover over 64% of transactions in the Eurozone. But we’re not stopping there. We’re actively exploring partnerships to build a truly pan-European network as quickly as possible.

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron: On your second question regarding ecommerce – we make Wero available in any geography where a merchant expresses interest. The same will apply to in-store acceptance. For example, in border regions like northern Italy, we expect merchants may adopt Wero even before it’s formally rolled out in Italy, simply to serve cross-border consumers.

We fully support the initiative that Martina is advocating – the coalition of European wallets. It’s in everyone’s interest: merchants, consumers, the ecosystem, and Europe as a whole. A unified and interoperable network between solutions will provide a strong, seamless alternative to non-European players. That’s the best path forward for ensuring strategic autonomy in payments.

About Martina Weimert

Martina Weimert is the CEO of EPI Company, since the early days of the initiative established in December 2020. Martina has been supporting and guiding European banks and acquirers to build the foundation of the EPI Company, aiming to build an independent European solution and connecting Europe’s payment industry.

 

About Pierre-Antoine Vacheron

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron brings 30 years of extensive international and transformational experience as CEO and CFO within the banking, retail, and payments industries. Joining Worldline from BPCE Payments, where he has served as CEO since 2018, he made Payments a strategic business for the entire banking group. Before BPCE, Pierre-Antoine headed the Merchant Services and Acquiring division of Ingenico Group globally. After graduating from the École Nationale d’Administration, Pierre-Antoine held financial leadership roles in international and listed companies across the technological and retail industries.

About EPI

EPI (or European Payments Initiative) is supported by 16 European banks and payment service providers. They have joined forces with a common goal: to offer a unified mobile payment service to all European companies and citizens, Wero. EPI intends to enable European consumers and merchants and to carry out all types of retail transactions simply, via a resolutely sovereign digital wallet.

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] helps businesses of all shapes and sizes to accelerate their growth journey – quickly, simply, and securely. With advanced payments technology, local expertise, and solutions customised for hundreds of markets and industries, Worldline powers the growth of over one million businesses around the world. Worldline generated a EUR 4.6 billion revenue in 2024.