Bank-backed mobile payment operators from Italy, Spain, and Portugal have taken the lead in creating interoperable money transfers, allowing users to perform instant cross-border P2P transactions.
Italy’s Bancomat, Spain’s Bizum, and Portugal’s MB WAY/SIBS showcased their services at the Web Summit this week, executing live transactions through SEPA instant transfers in collaboration with financial institutions in their respective countries.
Codenamed EuroPA, the European Payments Alliance aims to provide mobile payment interoperability to over 45 million customers and 182 financial institutions starting next year, with plans to expand beyond Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The partners believe their initiative aligns with the Eurosystem’s goal of promoting the adoption of pan-European instant transfers using existing infrastructures.
Additionally, the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a bank-backed project, began implementing its Wero mobile-first wallet and instant account-to-account payments system over the summer.