Wero arrives in France

A new phase in the deployment of the Wero solution from the European Payments Initiative (EPI), with the launch of the European digital payment wallet in France. Supported by French banks, the solution is designed to offer a sovereign payment alternative to all French consumers. An eagerly-awaited promise that has enabled the project's promoters to adhere to a well-established roadmap.

FACTS

• Deployment of Wero's Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the general public has now begun in France.
• The European instant account-to-account payment solution will be available to French customers of BNP Paribas, Groupe BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, La Banque Postale and Société Générale, as well as many of their subsidiaries.
• Most of the project's partner banks will enable their customers to use Wero via their own applications, with the exception of La Banque Postale, which will allow its customers to make payments via the Wero application developed by EPI.
• The latter will be available in all app stores from the second half of October 2024.

CHALLENGES

• An ambitious timetable: a number of French banks have been deploying EPI since June, in a pilot phase prior to opening up to the general public. The rollout of MVP P2P will continue until the end of the year. Other value-added services will be offered to customers in line with this schedule.
• Replacing the local initiative: Wero will enable users with a French bank account to send and receive money simply and instantly, using just a telephone number or e-mail address. The service replaces Paylib, and will be offered to its 35 million users as part of a simplified switchover. Paylib will cease to operate definitively at the beginning of 2025.
• Expanding functionalities: Wero is set to integrate new functionalities as it rolls out. While the deployment of its P2P service dedicated to professionals is the subject of debate in France and will be implemented at a later date, its rollout to e-merchants is expected from 2025 onwards (first for payments at small retailers, then for online payments). Point-of-sale payments at major retailers are due to be tested by 2026. BNPL, loyalty and shared spending functionalities are also under development.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• France will not be the first European country to deploy Wero. The country was overtaken by Germany, which launched Wero on its territory last July. Wero users will be able to make their first cross-border payments between France and Germany.
• Belgian users will follow by the end of the year, with Luxembourg and Dutch banks to follow later.
• EPI plans to establish Wero as the benchmark European payment wallet within 3 or 4 years.