What is Wero? The complete guide for your business

In October 2023, the EPI made headlines by acquiring iDEAL and Payconiq. Their goal was clear: to launch Wero, a pan-European solution that simplifies payments and reduces reliance on non-European systems. 

Wero is a unified digital wallet that allows customers to pay directly from their bank account to yours. It uses account-to-account (A2A) technology running on the SEPA network to settle payments in seconds, bypassing cards and intermediaries entirely.

Wero launched its peer-to-peer (P2P) service in mid-2024 and, rather than starting from scratch, the EPI executed a strategic migration by absorbing established national schemes such as Paylib in France and Payconiq in Belgium. This roll-up approach gave Wero an immediate base of over 43 million registered users and processed over 100 million transactions in its first year.

Wero’s roadmap for businesses is extensive. It aims to support a range of use cases beyond simple transfers, including one-click checkouts, recurring payments, instalment plans, and POS payments. Later, the EPI also aims to introduce value-added services such as buy now, pay later and loyalty programmes.

Where is Wero available? 

Wero’s peer-to-peer payment service is already live in Germany, France, and Belgium, with individuals using Wero to send money to friends and family. However, the EPI plans to activate business payments in waves. They started with Germany in late 2025. Belgium and the Netherlands will follow in the first half of 2026, then France and Luxembourg after that. 

If you operate in the Dutch market, you need to know that Wero will fully migrate the iDEAL scheme to its own platform. This transition will happen in two clear phases:

• Phase 1 – co-branding (early 2026): From January 2026, an ‘iDEAL | Wero’ logo replaces the standalone iDEAL branding. For your operations team, this is primarily a visual update – your existing iDEAL contracts will remain valid during this period, and the customer payment flow will remain largely unchanged.

• Phase 2 – full migration (late 2026 and throughout 2027): The second phase is a complete migration of the backend infrastructure. During this stage, iDEAL transactions will move entirely to the Wero platform. This is the moment where pricing structures, technical setups, and business contracts may change to align with Wero’s new standards. 

By late 2027, iDEAL is expected to be fully phased out, leaving Wero as the sole standard.

Who can use Wero?

Wero is designed for both individuals and businesses. 

For individuals, the barrier to entry is incredibly low. Most customers don’t need to create a new wallet or download a separate app. They simply access Wero directly through their existing banking app to send money to others.

For your business, the capability to accept Wero payments depends on the business payments rollout we outlined in the previous section. Once live in your region, your payment service provider should make Wero available as a standard payment option in your checkout.

Which banks support Wero?

Wero launches with backing from leading European banks, giving it immediate critical mass. The coalition currently includes:

• Major banking groups: BNP Paribas, Groupe BPCE, Deutsche Bank, ING, Rabobank, Crédit Agricole, and KBC.

• Infrastructure partners: Worldline and Nexi.

In Belgium, Wero is already native to the apps of Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, and KBC. We expect Argenta, Beobank, and others to finish their integrations in the first half of this year. The network is scaling fast in Germany and France as well, with at least five additional banking groups joining in 2026.

And yes, if you check the full EPI member list, you might spot a familiar name in the mix: Mollie (that’s us). We’re proud to be one of the key payment partners driving Wero forward and making it available to businesses across Europe. 

How does Wero work?

For your customers, Wero works similarly to the local payment methods they already use. 

• At checkout, customers select Wero.

• They’re then redirected to their banking app (or the Wero app) to securely authenticate the payment.

• Funds are debited instantly, and the customer is redirected back to your site.

• You receive real-time confirmation and can fulfil the order immediately.

And don’t worry about having to overhaul your existing systems: you typically won’t need to build a direct connection to Wero yourself – that’s the job of your payment service provider (PSP).

As a principal member of EPI, Mollie is helping to build this infrastructure. We handle the technical complexity, ensuring Wero slots into your current setup as easily as any other payment method as soon as it’s available. In most cases, it’s a plug-and-play addition that will require just a click in your Mollie Dashboard. 

Wero is building a roster of payment features that go well beyond simple transfers. Here’s what’s on its roadmap:

• Recurring payments: Managing subscriptions for services like Spotify or gym memberships.

• Deposits and reservations: Holding funds for car rentals or hotel bookings.

• Instalments: Allowing customers to split payments.

• Variable payments: Reserving a maximum amount before a service (like EV charging) and capturing the actual cost afterwards.

• One-click payments: Authorising future payments for a faster checkout experience.

• Payment protection: Handling ‘no-show’ fees (such as for hospitality businesses like restaurants/hotels).

What is Wero’s cost and fee structure?

For individuals, Wero is free for P2P payments (e.g., paying for goods or services, or sending money to friends and family). However, banks might charge fees for certain transactions, so it’s better to check with them. 

For businesses, there is a fee for offering Wero (as with any payment method), but the cost structure is fundamentally different from cards. By running on instant account-to-account (A2A) rails, it avoids the interchange and scheme fees charged by networks like Visa and Mastercard.

However, pricing is not one-size-fits-all. Commercial terms are defined by your acquirer or PSP, so costs will vary depending on your provider and the plan you select.

• Standard instant payments are positioned to be cost-effective compared to cards.

• Advanced payment features on the roadmap – such as recurring or buy now, pay later payments – might come with higher pricing tiers or added service fees.

Wero’s pricing model is typically percentage-based with built-in caps. While this might not always undercut the cheapest legacy local methods, these caps can establish a ceiling on your per-transaction fees.

For businesses with a high average order value (AOV), this offers greater predictability than uncapped credit card fees, protecting your margins on big-ticket items.

How can businesses switch to Wero?

If you offer payment methods that will migrate to Wero, you likely won’t have to change your technical setup. Over time, some changes may be required, but your payment service provider should support you through any necessary updates (we’re already keeping our customers up to date about this process). If you use a direct API or a custom integration, you may need to manually update visual elements such as logos.

If you operate in the Netherlands, iDEAL | Wero will provide a comprehensive communications toolkit and official logo assets to support your Wero migration.

Don't view this merely as a compliance exercise. As Paul Koetsier, Director at KPMG, notes, the transitional phase is also a good opportunity to audit your entire payment stack:

“The switch to Wero is a strategic trigger point,” he explains. “It’s the perfect time to ask yourself: ‘What payment methods do I actually want to offer? What conditions suit my business best? And what is the right order to display them in?’ Don’t just let the migration happen – use it to review and even rethink your payments and checkout strategy.”

Why Wero? The benefits and challenges for ecommerce

Wero is designed to solve the biggest headache in European payments: fragmentation.

For years, selling across the continent has meant juggling a patchwork of ‘local heroes’. While Wero won’t replace every local method overnight, it’s striving hard (and investing a lot) to build a unified standard across the major Eurozone economies.

And for Victor Mortreu, co-founder of Just Russel, Wero is a necessary evolution for the continent. “We are huge fans of European payment methods, because they are often better and cheaper than the global American counterparts,” he says. “Europe has a strong payment infrastructure, and Wero is the push we need to make that the standard.”

Beyond the long-term strategy, there are four operational reasons to put this on your roadmap now:

1. Fast payments: Because Wero runs on instant A2A rails, transactions are processed instantly. This provides real-time confirmation that the payment is successful, allowing you to ship orders immediately. Bear in mind that while the money moves in seconds, the actual settlement to your available balance might depend on your payment partner.

2. Lower transaction fees: By linking accounts directly, Wero bypasses the card schemes completely. This removes the interchange and scheme fees that typically eat into margins.

3. Reduced fraud liability: Wero transactions are authenticated directly by the customer’s bank (using FaceID, fingerprint, or PIN). This security drastically lowers the risk of fraud compared to card payments.

4. Pan-European reach: As Wero expands, it will offer a unified payment method across multiple European countries, enabling businesses to reach more customers with a single integration. 

The potential challenges of transitioning to Wero 

While the operational benefits are clear, we need to be realistic about the challenges Wero faces.

The biggest obstacle is consumer adoption: convincing millions of European shoppers to switch from dominant, well-established players such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Visa, and Mastercard is no small feat. And despite integrating with several national payment solutions, such as iDEAL, Payconiq, and Paylib, Wero remains relatively new compared with the existing local champions that have built significant scale, security, and trust over many years.

“iDEAL’s biggest strength is its brand,” explains Iryna Agieieva, Mollie’s Director of Product Management. “Of course, as a new payment method, Wero has a lot of work to do to build trust. To gain market share, it has to match the agility of its global fintech competitors and tempt shoppers away from the well-established payment methods they use every day."

On the bright side, Wero’s strategic move to merge with other local payment schemes enabled a smooth transition for users, with more than 43 million consumers across Europe already familiar with Wero’s P2P payment service (since September 2024, users have already transferred approximately €6 billion). The EPI is also investing heavily in marketing to drive adoption. In the Netherlands, a major campaign is currently underway to educate shoppers and businesses about the switch from iDEAL. And as noted earlier, 23 major banks and banking groups across Europe have launched the P2P aspect of Wero, with dozens more in progress. 

Of course, competition drives innovation. While some markets might hesitate to adopt, the pressure will force Wero to iterate quickly – ultimately benefiting you and your customers.

Is Wero guaranteed or non-guaranteed?

Wero runs on the SEPA Instant scheme, which means the funds settle in seconds. However, unlike a standard bank transfer – which is usually final the moment it lands – Wero payments come with some strings attached.

To build trust with consumers, Wero includes a buyer protection framework. 

With credit cards, there’s a more open-ended risk that customers might trigger chargebacks months after a purchase for a wide range of reasons. Wero aims to be more structured. While it isn’t a no-questions-asked refund mechanism, Wero allows consumers to raise disputes regarding specific issues such as non-delivery or defective goods. If a dispute is raised and won by the consumer, you won’t retain the funds.

“Wero’s buyer protection helps it compete with cards,” explains Diane Albouy, Mollie Principal Product Manager, “but it also introduces a layer of operational complexity – managing disputes on bank transfers – that simply didn’t exist before. Businesses shouldn’t have to manage this manually – their payment partner should act as a buffer, absorbing complexity and helping them to resolve disputes so their cash flow remains as predictable as possible.”

Wero chargebacks and dispute resolution

Wero is introducing its chargeback and dispute resolution process to compete with the consumer protection offered by global card schemes and PayPal. But for you, it means adapting to a new reality where funds can be contested.

Say a consumer who bought from you via Wero has an issue. Here’s what might happen next. 

First, the interface will direct consumers to contact your support team to resolve any complaints or issues. If that doesn't solve it, banks and PSPs get involved. Finally, the EPI will conduct its own arbitration as a final step (this will likely occur only in exceptional cases). 

A typical flow could look like this once fully implemented:

1. Consumer files dispute: A user reports a problem via their banking or Wero app (e.g., “Item not received” or “Unauthorised transaction”).

2. Inquiry phase: You’re notified immediately and given a window (typically 24–72 hours) to provide evidence of delivery or issue a voluntary refund.

3. Bank or PSP intervention: If unresolved, the PSP or the consumer’s bank investigates. If they find the claim is valid, the funds are returned to the consumer’s account via a formal chargeback.

While the steps above define the technical process, the true impact on your bottom line depends on the actions you take during the inquiry phase.

How to proactively manage Wero disputes 

• Prioritise refunds: Because Wero runs on instant rails, processing a refund is nearly instantaneous. If you verify that a customer claim is valid during the inquiry phase, refusing them is often the smartest move. It resolves the issue immediately and prevents it from escalating into a formal chargeback.

• Clear communication: Use the ‘Wero Pro’ label (which distinguishes professional payments from personal peer-to-peer transfers) and ensure your business name appears clearly on transaction receipts to reduce ‘unrecognised charge’ disputes.

• Know your liability: While strong customer authentication (like FaceID) protects you from ‘unauthorised transaction’ claims, you remain fully liable for commercial disputes like non-delivery.

• Automated PSP support: As Diane noted, your PSP should act as a buffer, automatically submitting proof of delivery to the bank during the inquiry phase to help protect your revenue.

How does Wero compare to other payment schemes?

Here’s how Wero compares to the established payment methods as of 2026.

The local heroes: Wero vs iDEAL, Payconiq, and Paylib

Wero represents the strategic evolution of national payment schemes, rather than merely a competitor. As the EPI acquired these established brands, it started a transition period that would effectively turn these payment methods into Wero.

Previously, an iDEAL user was trapped within national borders – great for buying cheese in Gouda, but useless for a train ticket in Paris. Under the Wero umbrella, that same user keeps the bank-direct security they love but gains the ability to use Wero in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. And you get to offer Wero payments to all these countries, with more to come in the future.

Wero vs Paypal 

While both function as digital wallets, their commercial DNA is quite different.

PayPal is a comprehensive service that funds transactions via cards, bank transfers, or stored balances. It wraps this infrastructure in layers of buyer protection and branding, but that comes at a cost. Payment fees are typically higher than bank-centric alternatives, with percentage-based transaction fees and currency conversion margins.

In contrast, Wero uses an account-to-account model powered by SEPA Instant. By eliminating the usual intermediaries, the goal is to offer a structure with significantly lower overhead for businesses than the global US giant.

Wero vs Visa and Mastercard 

The primary distinction between Wero and US-based card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard lies in the ‘rails’ on which money flows. 

Visa and Mastercard use networks that involve multiple parties: your business, the acquirer, the network, and the issuer. For you, this results in two things: settlement delays of several days and higher interchange fees.

Wero bypasses these layers by using direct bank-to-bank transfers. That means funds settle in seconds, improving your liquidity and removing the scheme fees associated with the card giants. But unlike the card networks, it doesn’t offer credit facilities, acceptance outside Europe, and comprehensive reward programs.

"Wero is becoming an account-to-account payment method with card-scheme features,” Paul says. “From a functional perspective – handling disputes, structuring pricing, and ensuring consumer trust – it is starting to look more and more like a traditional card product, just one that runs on different, more efficient rails."

Wero vs Google Pay and Apple Pay

Technically, Apple Pay and Google Pay act as digital wrappers for existing cards. They sit on top of the Visa and Mastercard networks. Wero removes this layer entirely, creating a direct path between bank accounts that keeps financial data within the European banking ecosystem.

While Apple and Google have long dominated the user experience with Near Field Communication (NFC, or tap-to-pay) technology, Wero is closing this gap in 2026 by rolling out its own NFC-based features alongside its original QR code system. This shift enables Wero to compete on speed and ease.

Finally, Wero works on everything. While Apple Pay is locked to iPhones, Wero works on any phone. Whether integrated into a banking app or used as a standalone wallet, it functions seamlessly across both iOS and Android.

The table below summarises the key differences between Wero and other payment solutions.

How Mollie supports your Wero migration

Now that we’ve covered almost every aspect of Wero, one question remains: How can you offer Wero seamlessly? 

The good news is you don’t need to figure this out alone – your PSP should guide you on how to offer Wero and when to add it to your payment mix. 

As a Principal Member of European Payments Initiative, Mollie is helping to shape Wero’s rollout and ensuring our customers can offer it as soon as possible. 

For you, this means having a guide who understands the nuance of the European market. As Paul from KPMG explains, this expertise is critical: “European payment providers are simply better placed to navigate this landscape. If you view Europe as one single market – as many global giants do – you’ll struggle against the deep-rooted local habits that define it. Wero helps harmonise this fragmentation, but you still need a partner who understands the distinct cultural dynamics of each market to make it work."

And until Wero is live, we’ll continue to offer more than 35 leading European payment methods, including iDEAL, Bancontact, Bizum, Blik, credit cards, and more, to help you maximise conversion. 

Ready to build a future-proof payment system that powers conversion and drives revenue? Learn more about our online payments solution.

Other frequently asked questions about Wero 

1. When will Wero launch?

Wero is already live for peer-to-peer transfers between individuals. For ecommerce and business payments, the rollout is staggered: Germany went live in late 2025. This will be followed by Belgium and the Netherlands in the first half of 2026, and France and Luxembourg later in the year.

From there, it will expand across Europe as part of a phased, multi-year plan. The speed of expansion will depend on various factors, including regulatory approvals, banking partnerships, and consumer adoption rates in each market.

Keeping a close eye on the rollout will ensure you’re ready to capture new customers as soon as Wero arrives in your key markets. 

2. Which countries is Wero available in?

Currently, you can find Wero in Germany, France, and Belgium for payments between individuals (P2P). Wero was made available for businesses from late 2025 in Germany, and then will roll out across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg throughout 2026. 

3. Can Wero be used for in-person payments?

Not yet, but Wero’s in-store payment solution is scheduled for 2026. The plan is to use QR codes for in-store payments, which is a strategic advantage for businesses as it eliminates the need for expensive physical terminals or card hardware.

4. Is Wero going to replace iDEAL?

Yes, Wero is set to become the successor to iDEAL. But in a planned and staggered evolution, not a sudden switch. iDEAL is expected to be fully phased out by the end of 2027. Until then, it will remain available under the co-branding name iDEAL | Wero.

EPI, Wero’s parent company, acquired iDEAL’s technology provider to ensure a smooth, seamless transition. The goal is to migrate iDEAL’s core functionality to a modern, pan-European platform, ultimately delivering a better experience for businesses and consumers. If you’re a business using iDEAL, you can expect a carefully managed transition with plenty of advance notice.

If you use Mollie payments, we’ll ensure that any transition won’t adversely affect your conversion or checkout.

5. Is Wero mandatory, or can I continue using iDEAL for now?

For now, you can continue using iDEAL exactly as you do today. However, because iDEAL will be retired by late 2027, treating this as a mandatory migration in your long-term roadmap is the smartest operational move.

6. Do I need multiple Wero contracts if I operate in several countries?

No. One of Wero’s biggest benefits is its pan-European reach. A single updated contract with a provider like Mollie covers cross-border acceptance, saving you the headache of managing fragmented local agreements.

7. Will other currencies, besides the euro, be accepted?

Currently, Wero supports only euro payments, but may support other currencies in the future.

8. How can I make sure my consumers are not alarmed when switching?

Trust is the priority. The transition includes a ‘co-branding’ phase (iDEAL | Wero) throughout 2026 to maintain consumer confidence. Additionally, national marketing campaigns are already underway to educate shoppers, and millions are already using the Wero brand for P2P transfers.

9. Is it possible to pay via credit card through the Wero interface?

No. Wero is designed as an account-to-account (A2A) payment system, meaning it moves money directly between bank accounts.

10. . How can I automatically check if Wero is available for a specific customer (based on their bank) before showing it in the checkout? 

If you’re using a custom integration, you will need to query the API to check bank eligibility. However, if you use a payment partner like Mollie, we automatically determine availability to ensure a seamless checkout experience.

11. . Will Wero be offered for recurring payments or subscriptions?

Yes. While the initial launch focuses on single payments, recurring payments and subscriptions are key features on the Wero roadmap. These advanced features may carry different commercial terms depending on your provider.