New Initiative to Connect 15 European Countries for Mobile and Online Payments

Summary: The EuroPA consortium and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) have announced a major collaboration to connect mobile payment systems like MB Way (Portugal), Bizum (Spain), aBancomat Pay (Italy) and Wero across Europe. The aim is to accelerate the creation of a more integrated, efficient, and sovereign European payments market.

In practical terms, this means users will soon be able to make instant mobile transfers between countries — e.g., sending money from a Portuguese MB Way user to a Spanish Bizum user — seamlessly across borders.

The first phase will cover 15 European countries, representing 382+ million people (over 84% of the EU + Norway). The EPI is also behind Wero, a similar mobile payment scheme already supported by major banks like Deutsche Bank, ING, BNP Paribas, and BPCE.

The goal is to support all types of payments (person-to-person, online, and in-store) using existing infrastructures while enhancing interoperability.

A detailed study is underway and expected to conclude by the end of summer.

Why it matters: This could be a big step toward European digital sovereignty and a real alternative to US-dominated players like PayPal, Apple Pay, and Revolut.