Five major European payment networks have joined forces to create a cross-border payment infrastructure designed to offer an alternative to the US networks that currently dominate the European market.
Spain’s Bizum, France and Germany’s EPI/Wero, Portugal’s SIBS, Scandinavia’s Vipps and Italy’s Bancomat have established the European Network for Payments (Enp), a jointly owned company that will be headquartered in Madrid.
The new company aims to connect the participating national payment systems rather than replace them with a single European network. This would allow consumers to use their domestic payment services across participating European countries.
For example, an Italian consumer could eventually use Bancomat to pay at a point-of-sale terminal in Barcelona that accepts Bizum.
Cross-border payments targeted
Initially, the system will focus on peer-to-peer payments between individuals. The partners aim to extend interoperability to in-store and online purchases by the end of 2027.
The five networks currently serve around 130 million users across 13 European countries, covering more than 70% of the population of the European Union and Norway.
The platform is also expected to remain open to other national payment networks, potentially expanding its reach to European markets where domestic alternatives to international card schemes are not currently available.
Bancomat CEO Fabrizio Burlando compared the initiative to mobile phone roaming, arguing that European consumers should be able to use their domestic payment tools abroad without having to change cards, applications or devices.
Digital wallet also under consideration
The partners are also examining the possibility of developing an application for virtual cards that could provide an alternative to digital payment platforms such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
The broader objective is to strengthen Europe’s autonomy in payments and reduce dependence on international networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal.
The companies behind Enp say the new infrastructure would allow existing national systems to communicate with each other while preserving their individual brands, features and user experiences.
Implementation still ahead
The creation of Enp marks an initial step, but much of the project still needs to be developed before the system can be widely used by consumers and merchants.
The participating networks will finance the development and rollout of the infrastructure. They are also expected to establish arrangements for sharing transaction fees between the networks without passing additional costs on to users.
The initiative could eventually give European consumers and merchants greater access to domestic payment systems when making cross-border transactions, while maintaining the existing national brands and services.
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