Fourteen banking establishments are launching a new functionality accessible to all by the end of October. Initially intended to transfer money between individuals via cell phones, it is ultimately intended to replace bank cards.
What is the Wero principle?
It will only take ten seconds to complete a transfer. Instant and free. No more laboriously copying out an Iban, the recipient’s name and waiting forty-eight hours before sending or receiving money. Customers of French banks will be able to reimburse themselves at any time between individuals via a telephone number, an email address or a QR code.
Some users are already familiar with this use. Before taking the next step: instantly pay for a purchase on the Internet or directly with local merchants or health professionals, for example. According to the European Payments Initiative (EPI), which is responsible for the development of the project, other services such as online multiple purchases will also be affected. It will soon be possible, via Wero (pronounced “ouiro”), to share an expense with several people, to follow or subscribe to a loyalty program with a merchant. This European collaboration is at the origin of the choice of the name of the service. According to EPI CEO Martina Weimert, “we” refers to the collective aspect of the project and “ro” means “euro”. She also insisted on the proximity of “wero” with “vero” which means true in Latin.
This digital service could revolutionize the way we consume. No need for a bank card or payment terminal, our phones will be enough to pay by instant transfer for our consultation with the doctor or our basket of vegetables at the market.
Who has access to it and on what medium?
Wero has already been launched since the beginning of September for clients of BPCE, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Mutuel. It will also be from October 24 for BNP Paribas and Société Générale and from October 28 for the Postal Bank. Customers of Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne et du Sud-Ouest will have to wait until January 2025.
Rarely, French banks have chosen to carry out a joint project. Executives from all the major French establishments were present side by side during a press conference presenting the service at the end of September in Brussels. These customers have access mainly via their banking applications. Only the Postal Bank in France will direct its customers to a dedicated Wero application, the release of which is scheduled for the second half of October. A communications campaign is planned for this period.
What is the benefit of this service for users and banks?
The use of instant transfers, which currently require payment at most banks – 80 centimes at Société Générale and 1 euro at Caisse d’Epargne – or bank transfer applications, is growing rapidly in France and already represented the year last more than 6% of transfers, according to the Banque de France. In any case, banking establishments have no other choice than to generalize this service and make it free next year, as required by European regulations. In return, the Paylib service, offered by most French banks, will disappear at the beginning of next year.
This European project, the development cost of which is estimated at several billion euros, was delayed in getting started. Wero’s ambition and scope were scaled back at the start of 2022. This banking service initially imagined as a physical card, competing with Visa and Mastercard, was abandoned in favor of a dematerialized wallet, accessible on mobile. Today, banks are still far from being able to live without bank cards which are very lucrative for them. To really establish itself, Wero will have to be accepted by traders, this is where the “real battle”, according to Martina Weimert. Banks hope to convince them with more competitive rates than those charged by Visa and Mastercard.