The European Payments Initiative has welcomed Erste Bank Oesterreich and Raiffeisen as shareholders to advance Wero's rollout in Austria.
Raiffeisen's participation spans Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and three regional Landesbanken: Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich, and Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark. The formal admission of the three Landesbanken as shareholders remains subject to their respective supervisory board approvals.
Wero's pan-European expansion
Austria, with a population of approximately nine million, represents a new market in Wero's expanding European footprint. The platform operates as a real-time A2A payment solution and had surpassed 55 million users ahead of its Austrian entry, with rollouts also progressing in Luxembourg and the Netherlands. With this in mind, the support of Erste Bank Oesterreich and the Raiffeisen network, which together serve the majority of Austrian banking customers, is expected to provide a foundation for market adoption in the country.
EPI was established to build a pan-European payment network, offering consumers and merchants an account-to-account alternative to card-based international payment schemes. Wero launched initially across Germany, France, and Belgium, where A2A capabilities have progressively gained traction among retail users. Austria represents the latest addition to this rollout, and the participation of major domestic banking institutions reflects EPI's strategy of embedding Wero within established financial relationships in each target market.
Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI, noted that the participation of Erste and Raiffeisen further strengthens EPI's mission to build a resilient, pan-European payment network, and described the development as part of a broader new phase of growth for Wero across Europe.
In addition, Gerda Holzinger-Burgstaller, Chief Executive Officer of Erste Bank Oesterreich, stated that the bank's commitment to offering customers secure and flexible payment solutions underpins its decision to add Wero to its services, and that as an EPI shareholder, Erste intends both to offer the solution to clients and to actively contribute to its development.
Moreover, Johann Strobl, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International, said that the Raiffeisen group's EPI shareholding reflects a commitment to shaping the future of payments in Austria and across Europe, and that providing customers and merchants with alternatives such as Wero is intended to advance greater choice and efficiency in the payments landscape.
With the Austrian expansion now confirmed, EPI's shareholder base continues to broaden, reinforcing Wero's ambition to establish itself as a widely accepted payment solution across Europe.
