European payment players join forces against Visa and Mastercard

Europe is taking a decisive step towards regaining control of its everyday payments. Operators Bancomat, Bizum, SIBS-MB WAY, Vipps MobilePay and EPI Company have signed a memorandum of understanding that brings together members of the EuroPA Alliance and the European Payments Initiative. The goal is clear: to build a credible European alternative to the American networks Visa and Mastercard. The partners want to offer a robust infrastructure controlled by players on the continent.

The project is based on an interoperability platform managed by a new central entity. Consumers will retain national applications and brands, but cross-border transactions will become seamless. Instant transfers will serve as a common foundation, ensuring fast account-to-account payments. European standards will be at the heart of the system.

The coalition already has around 130 million users, representing an immediately operational critical mass. Thirteen countries will be covered from launch, representing nearly 72% of the population of the European Union and Norway. Merchants operating in multiple markets will have a unified solution. Customers will benefit from a harmonised experience without changing their habits.

The initiative is open to all European countries, including Switzerland and markets outside the eurozone. Countries with a domestic solution will be able to connect directly to the platform, while others will be able to adopt one of the existing tools within the alliance: this approach avoids a rigid technical solution.

For merchants, the challenge is both financial and strategic, as dependence on international networks drives up costs. A new common visual badge will be developed to identify acceptance points, and current brands such as Wero, Bizum and MB Way will remain visible.

The business model focuses on simplicity and continuity: the partners have validated the feasibility and are moving on to concrete implementation. The central platform will act as a technical layer between national and pan-European systems. European banks will finally have an end-to-end infrastructure under their control.

The timetable envisages a first stage in the first half of 2026 with the creation of the interoperability entity, with technical tests being carried out in parallel before a phased roll-out. Starting this year, person-to-person payments will work between countries, meaning that a British user will be able to send money to a Spanish user in a matter of seconds.

The extension to online and in-store payments is expected within a year. Everyday use cases will then be covered, from e-commerce to physical purchases. The forces at play are considerable. Bancomat processes 2.7 billion transactions per year in Italy, worth €200 billion. Bizum has over 30 million users, with more than three million transfers per day. In Portugal, SIBS-MB Way manages tens of millions of transactions per month at hundreds of thousands of points of sale.

EPI continues to grow with Wero, which is active in Belgium, France and Germany. Major migrations are planned in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, adding millions of consumers. Vipps MobilePay brings Nordic experience and hundreds of thousands of business customers. Together, they form a pan-European player capable of competing with the American giants. La Tribune

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