Five European firms have announced the creation of a European interoperability entity that will enable their respective payment solutions to be connected. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding last February, Bizum, Bancomat, Epi Company/Wero, Sibs-Mb Way and Vipps MobilePay have agreed to establish the European Network for Payments, in which they will hold equal shares.

The new entity will be based in Madrid and marks a major step towards European sovereignty by establishing a sovereign, interoperable European payments framework. The new tool will enable participating organisations to gradually offer seamless cross-border payments (for person-to-person, merchant and online transactions) across Europe. The phased rollout is expected to begin with person-to-person cross-border payments, with e-commerce and point-of-sale payments to follow in later phases.

Established payment solutions
The five partners will be able to offer the new features while preserving their respective brands and user experiences. Together, the five solutions already serve around 130 million users across 13 European countries. This represents more than 70% of the population of the European Union and Norway. Bringing other established European payment solutions on board will simply require agreement among the partners and compliance with the network’s technical and operational requirements.

From its headquarters in the Spanish capital, the European Network for Payments will connect existing European payment solutions through a shared technical and operational layer based on European standards, including instant account-to-account payments. The founding partners will oversee technical coordination and the future expansion of both the features and participating solutions.

Serving citizens
Bizum’s Deputy Managing Director for International Expansion, Fernando Rodríguez, said that the creation of the new entity “demonstrates the European banking sector’s ability to join forces and build a sovereign, efficient and innovative payment system that serves citizens”, and added, “This initiative strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy and paves the way for a new generation of connected digital payments, designed to meet the needs of consumers and merchants across the continent”.

The CEO of Italian organisation Bancomat, Fabrizio Burlando, sees this milestone as “a significant step forward in building a sovereign and integrated European payments ecosystem. By connecting robust national solutions through a common framework, we are enabling seamless cross-border experiences while preserving the diversity, trust and closeness that each system has developed in its own market”.

Beyond borders
For Martina Weimert, CEO of Belgium-based EPI Company, “Europeans should be able to use the payment solutions they already trust when travelling, shopping or conducting cross-border business transactions”. She explained, “By connecting European payment solutions, we can bring this convenience across borders, offer consumers more choice and help merchants serve customers throughout Europe without the need for major investment.”

The CEO of Portuguese company Sibs, João Mello Franco, says that interoperability “is not just a technical achievement. It is a statement about Europe’s ability to shape its own future in payments”.

Finally, Kim Fuglsang Kristoffersen, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Norwegian company Vipps MobilePay, said “We are connecting what we have built, turning ambition into action and creating a strong European alternative that is easy for Europeans to use across borders.”

^{Photo: Bizum}