European payments future with Martina Weimert (Episode 48)
In this episode, I sit down with Martina Weimert, CEO and founder of EPI company, the corporation behind popular payment infrastructure Wero.
Guests
Show notes
In this episode, I sit down with Martina Weimert, CEO and founder of EPI company, the corporation behind popular payment infrastructure Wero.
Martina has been supporting and guiding European banks and acquirers to build the foundation of the EPI company since the initiative was established in 2020, aiming to build an independent European solution and connect Europe’s payment industry.
With 20 years of experience in international payment consulting, she has in-depth experience in payments and payment solution set up, fintech, blockchain and retail banking in Europe, the Americas and Middle East. Prior to joining EPI company, she was a partner in financial services at Oliver Wyman in Paris, leading the European payment practice, and previously holding the position of Senior VP at Capgemini consulting and sales director for Deutsche Bank in France.
With her, we will talk about the importance of having an European independent and sovereign payment infrastructure, the resilience of new payment methods and the future of payments in the EU.
In this episode
Martina Weimert explains why Europe needs a sovereign payment system and how Wero builds on the EU instant payments standard with its own rulebook for commerce, a wallet, QR codes and contactless. She gives Wero's adoption figures and rollout plans, describes the long process of convincing banks market by market, and argues that resilience alone is not enough: Wero also has to be the most convenient way to pay.
Chapters
- 0:00Introduction and background
- 3:08Why Europe needs its own payment system
- 7:08Regulation and the level playing field
- 10:07Building on instant payments and account-to-account
- 13:37Interoperability, in Europe and beyond
- 17:04Wero's users and rollout
- 19:15Convincing banks
- 25:14Merchants and interest from abroad
- 27:44Resilience and competitiveness
Key facts
Wero has 55 million activated users.
The migration of the Netherlands (iDEAL, running until the end of 2027) and Luxembourg will add about 15 million users.
EPI is in talks with further markets, including Austria.
Point-of-sale payments start in Belgium, then Luxembourg, then other markets.
Wero plans contactless (NFC) account-to-account payments in 2027.
EPI has 16 shareholders and 50 enrolled banks and acquirers rolling Wero out to their clients.
Merchants need one integration to accept Wero in every market it covers.
Wero adds its own rulebook for commerce (acquirers, merchants, fraud responsibilities) on top of the EU instant payments regulation.
There are more than 60 account-to-account payment schemes worldwide.
More than 80% of invoice payments in Luxembourg are made by QR code.
Large US merchants asked to accept Wero soon after launch.
Europe has no industrial policy for payments as it does for energy, and it needs one.
Regulation is harder on newcomers: card schemes get exemptions that instant payment players do not.
Fragmentation is Europe's biggest problem in payments; only pooled European resources can compete internationally.
Resilience is not enough: consumers pick the easiest, most convenient method, so Wero must be competitive too.
Questions and answers
Why does Europe need a sovereign payment system?
Payments underpin commerce; dependence on foreign schemes means no control over innovation, fees or what happens if access is cut.
Why should Wero succeed where earlier attempts such as the Money Project failed?
It is mobile-first, built on a common European instant payments standard, and more than another card scheme.
How did banks react?
With hesitation and sometimes hostility at first; convincing takes long, market by market, through investment committees.
What do merchants want?
An alternative to cards and leverage on card fees, plus features like QR payments without a till.
People
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