For many years in a row, the most influential banks of the European Union have been developing a new payment system that will most likely lead to the rejection of Visa Inc. cards. and Mastercard Inc. We are talking about the Wero project.
Points of attention
- The Wero project can become an alternative to the giants Visa and Mastercard in Europe.
- Europe seeks to create its own financial infrastructure independent of the US and global players.
- Although Wero will not be able to immediately compete with Visa and Mastercard in terms of transaction volume, it has a chance to become an attractive choice for European players and consumers.
The Wero project — what to expect from it
As journalists were able to find out, the platform, which is currently supported by 16 major banks and financial institutions, including BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG and Worldline SA, will allow a German customer to instantly pay for a hotel in France using his own bank account, instead of a Visa card or MasterCard.
If the Wero project is successful, the giants Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. will lose billions of dollars in commissions they receive from European merchants every time shoppers pay for something with a card.
In addition, it confirms the fact that Europe does not want to rely on the USA in the creation of key elements of infrastructure, in particular, financial.
Visa and Mastercard are so big that they have a lot of power over the market, said Martina Weimert, executive director of the European Payments Initiative, the company that created Wero.
According to him, the main goal of this project is to create an alternative to international systems in order to offer European players and consumers a European choice.
Wero will not just compete with the old giants
Experts draw attention to the fact that Wero will not be able to immediately match Visa and Mastercard, which annually process tens of trillions of dollars in different parts of the world.
What's important to understand is that in 2023, these companies processed $14.8 trillion and about $9 trillion, respectively, earning transaction processing fees.
Over the past years, many local payment systems have appeared in Europe, such as Swish in Sweden, Twint in Switzerland and iDeal in the Netherlands, but none of them have become as widespread as Visa or Mastercard.
According to the developers, Wero's services will be available both through its own application and through the platforms of participating lenders.
