The European Payments Initiative, a bank-supported initiative aimed at creating a competitor to Mastercard and Visa in Europe, has chosen ‘wero’ as the brand name for its upcoming digital wallet solution.
The wero digital wallet will be launched in phases, starting with account-to-account based instant P2P and consumer-to-business payments. Following this initial rollout, the wallet will support online and mobile shopping payments, as well as point-of-sale payments.
The selection of the brand name follows the EPI’s decision in April to acquire the Dutch payment scheme iDeal and the mobile payments app Payconiq, which is backed by several Belgian and Dutch banks. Member banks supporting the initiative include ABN Amro, Belfius, BFCM, BNP Paribas, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DSGV, DZ Bank ING, KBC, La Banque Postale, Rabobank, and Société Générale, with additional support from Nexi and Worldline.
Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI, commented on the new brand: “In a market filled with predictable ‘pay’ brand names, wero stood out from a list of 238 candidate names we considered. It embodies the collective European character of ‘we’ while sounding similar to ‘Euro.’ Additionally, wero is reminiscent of ‘vero,’ meaning ‘true’ in Latin-based languages. I find it catchy with its simple yet memorable structure, and its short, snappy sound resonates with the fast-paced nature of digital transactions.”
The joint venture is working toward launching wero by mid-2024 in Belgium, France, and Germany, with plans to expand to the Netherlands and other countries in the years ahead.