Parties sign MoU to accelerate the rollout of sovereign, Pan-European payment solutions

This MoU is a critical milestone for Europe’s strategic autonomy in payments. At a time when Europe remains highly dependent on non-European players, this industry-led initiative demonstrates that European banks and payment service providers have both the infrastructure and the scale to deliver a concrete alternative rapidly. The cooperation builds on the success of existing solutions, connecting them via a central hub to create a truly pan-European experience for cross-border payments.

The cooperation brings together solutions that currently serve approximately 130 million users, creating immediate value for both consumers and merchants operating across borders. At launch, the initiative will span 13 European countries, collectively already covering ~72% of the European Union and Norway population. The coalition is open to all European countries, including Switzerland and other non-euro markets: markets that have already developed a domestic solution may join directly, those without a domestic solution wishing to join, can implement one of the solutions already available within the initiative.

The signature of this MoU confirms the positive completion of the feasibility phase, the solutions will now transition towards the implementation phase of the project.

What does it mean for European end-users and European merchants?

European consumers will continue using their current preferred solution, now with broader European reach, benefiting from a user experience consistent with what they are accustomed to at home. Merchants will be able to accept payments from European consumers using a European solution, reducing dependency on international players. The solutions will develop a new branding badge next to their existing brands, enabling consumers to recognize where their preferred solutions will be accepted beyond current markets.

How the interoperability model will work

The cooperation is based on a central interoperability hub, operated by a future central entity jointly established by the partners.

The central hub will act as a technical layer, enabling transactions to flow seamlessly between existing pan-european and national solutions, based on European standards and infrastructures, including instant account-to-account payments.

Existing payment solutions will remain unchanged, preserving their brands, user experience and features.

Roadmap and next steps

Following the MoU, the partners will establish the central interoperability entity by H1 2026, will start preparing the technical implementation of the target set-up, and conduct proof‑of‑concepts (PoCs) in parallel.

Coverage of all use cases is intented by 2027 through a phased rollout:

• In 2026: rollout of peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border payments

• In 2027: rollout of e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) payments

This initiative, grounded in Europe’s best-in-class solutions and diversity, will ensure a scalable, sovereign European payment solution, driving innovation, convenience and efficiency for both consumers and merchants.

“This MoU is a major step toward a truly pan-European payments network. The direction is set, and momentum is real. Together, we will deliver cross-border P2P, e-commerce and POS payments at scale. Building on the EuroPA alliance—already connecting national mobile payment solutions in Spain and Portugal—this partnership significantly expands interoperability and brings seamless European payments to millions of users” says Fabrizio Burlando, Bancomat CEO.

“Europe has the infrastructure, scale and vision needed to offer a sovereign, robust and reliable European alternative in the field of payments. And the first steps have already been taken: the EuroPA alliance has been operating since March across four territories (Spain, Italy, Portugal and Andorra) and is a clear demonstration that the existing solutions are efficient and are being rapidly adopted by the market (6 million euros transferred cross-border during 2025 without promotion). With this agreement, we show that we are committed to continuing to work and ensure that more European citizens and merchants have access to trustworthy payment solutions that protect their data, something that can only be built through collective commitment.”, added Ángel Nigorra, Managing Director of Bizum.

“This agreement demonstrates that Europe’s payment sovereignty is not a vision, but a reality in the making. Solutions like Wero already exist and are live in several countries. By connecting them through interoperability with our partners, we are laying the foundations for a truly European payment ecosystem, built on solutions that are already live and trusted by users” stated Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI.

“European payment sovereignty will be achieved by connecting trusted solutions like MB WAY and interoperability of European infrastructures. With MB WAY, we have shown that large scale, trusted, instant payment systems can be built in Europe and adopted by millions of users and merchants for in store, ecommerce and person to person payments. MB WAY users can already send money to other countries that joined the EuroPA Alliance, proving that interoperability is the fastest path to a sovereign European payments ecosystem” says Teresa Mesquita, SIBS Executive Board Member and COO.

“At Vipps MobilePay, we work every day to make payments simple for our Nordic users. We are proud to join this collaboration to connect Vipps and MobilePay with wallets in other European countries. If payments are truly going to be simple, sending money across borders must be just as easy as paying at home. This collaboration brings that experience into the apps our users already know and trust,” says Rune Garborg, CEO of Vipps MobilePay.