EPI Joins nexo standards to Accelerate Wero’s Pan-European Merchant Acceptance

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has joined nexo standards to accelerate the cross-border merchant adoption of its Wero payment scheme. By aligning with open messaging protocols, EPI aims to solve the technical fragmentation hindering account-to-account payments, providing a unified alternative to international card schemes for 60 million European users.

What was announced

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has formally joined nexo standards to bolster the technical foundation of its Wero payment scheme. This membership is designed to facilitate Wero’s acceptance across diverse European merchant environments by leveraging nexo’s open payment specifications and messaging protocols. These protocols, built on the ISO 20022 framework, allow payment acceptance systems to communicate through a unified language, reducing the technical friction typically associated with account-to-account (A2A) transactions.

With a current user base of 60 million, Wero is positioning itself as a primary payment choice for both consumers and merchants. The collaboration ensures that Wero can be supported across a wide range of acceptance infrastructures, regardless of the specific technical environment or market. A practical demonstration of this interoperability was recently showcased at NRF Europe in Paris in September, where Wero payments were processed on terminals using a nexo-based acceptance environment via QR code scanning.

While QR codes currently provide the primary contactless feature, EPI intends to further develop these use cases as part of a broader in-store payment rollout scheduled for 2027. This long-term strategy also includes the integration of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enhance the point-of-sale experience across the continent. By joining nexo standards, EPI can follow the evolution of standards for A2A payments and support compatible acceptance solutions across different technical environments.

"Europe’s payment ambitions need to translate into practical choices for consumers and businesses. For Wero, that means building a European solution that merchants can accept across different markets and payment environments and offered by all banks across the continent. Open standards and interoperability help create those conditions. Our membership with nexo standards reflects this approach and our ambition to bring greater European payment choice to everyday commerce."

Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI.

The companies involved

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is a consortium of European banks and payment service providers dedicated to creating a unified, sovereign payment system for the continent. Its flagship product, Wero, is designed to replace fragmented national systems with a single account-to-account solution. This initiative represents a significant effort to reduce Europe's reliance on non-European card schemes and payment giants by offering a homegrown alternative for digital transactions. The scheme aims to become an everyday payment choice for consumers and merchants across European markets.

nexo standards is an international non-profit association that develops and maintains open, global specifications for payment acceptance. By standardizing the exchange of data between payment terminals, merchant systems, and acquirers, nexo aims to remove the barriers created by proprietary protocols. The organization’s work is rooted in the ISO 20022 standard, which has become the global benchmark for financial messaging. The UK Payments Initiative also operates within this evolving European landscape, focusing on payment modernization and standardisation efforts that parallel the ambitions of the EPI to create more efficient payment frameworks.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely tracked the expansion of the Wero ecosystem as it moves toward full European coverage. We recently reported that bunq Becomes First Bank to Launch Wero Payments Across Four European Markets, marking a major milestone for the scheme's availability. In France, Orange Becomes First French Merchant to Launch Wero Payment Integration, demonstrating the platform's utility for recurring bill payments.

The transition from legacy systems is also underway, as seen when the European Payments Initiative Begins Wero Migration in Luxembourg to Replace Payconiq. Additionally, the broader standardisation market continues to shift, with firms like Acquired Launches Specialist Billing Engine to Optimise Recurring Revenue Lifecycle, reflecting the ongoing investment in modern payment infrastructure and its founding role in related initiatives.

What this means

This move signals that the European Payments Initiative is shifting focus from consumer-facing bank integrations to the "last mile" of merchant acceptance. By adopting nexo standards, EPI is directly challenging the dominance of international card schemes by removing the technical hurdles that often deter retailers from adopting new payment methods. The success of Wero now hinges on whether this technical interoperability can translate into a user experience that rivals the convenience of traditional cards at the physical point of sale. For the wider industry, the pressure is mounting on legacy acquirers to support these open standards or risk being sidelined as account-to-account payments move into the physical retail space.