Wero joins nexo to reach shop tills

The European Payments Initiative (EPI), the company behind the Wero payment scheme, has become a member of nexo standards. The move, announced on 9 October 2026, is meant to make it easier for shops and payment providers across Europe to accept Wero at the point of sale.

Wero lets people pay directly from their bank account using instant transfers. It already has around 60 million users, mainly for sending money between people and for online payments.

What nexo standards does

Nexo standards is a non-profit organisation that writes open specifications for payment acceptance, such as the messages exchanged between a card terminal, a till system and a payment processor. Its specifications are based on ISO 20022, the international messaging standard used across modern payment systems. When terminal makers, acquirers and retailers all speak the same technical language, adding a new payment method becomes much simpler.

Why EPI joined

Europe’s acceptance infrastructure is still fragmented. Each country has its own mix of terminals, processors and local schemes, which makes it costly to roll out a new way to pay. By working inside nexo standards, EPI can help shape common specifications so that Wero can be added to existing terminals and till software across many markets, instead of being integrated one country at a time.

EPI chief executive Martina Weimert said, in substance, that Europe’s payment ambitions have to turn into practical choices for consumers and businesses, and that Wero needs to be simple for merchants to accept in every market.

Background: what Wero is

Wero was launched in 2024 by a group of European banks and payment companies to create a single European way to pay from a bank account. It builds on SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, the scheme that moves euros between European accounts within seconds. It is gradually replacing some national services and is offered inside the apps of participating banks, so users do not need to share card numbers when they pay or send money.

The scheme’s plan has three stages: person-to-person transfers, then online and mobile shopping, and finally payments in physical shops. Joining nexo standards is part of preparing that last stage.

Timeline for shops

EPI plans to introduce Wero at physical shops in several markets in 2027. The first in-store version uses QR codes, which the company demonstrated at the NRF Europe event in Paris in September 2026. Payments using NFC, the tap technology used by contactless cards and phones, are planned for a later stage.

Why it matters for payments

Account-to-account payments can be cheaper for merchants than card payments and settle instantly. A widely accepted European scheme would give shoppers another option at the till and reduce Europe’s reliance on international card networks, which is a stated policy goal of many European governments and banks.

For consumers, the main change would be choice: paying from a bank app by scanning a code, alongside cards, digital wallets and newer options such as stablecoin-funded payments.

What to watch next

The key signals will be which terminal makers and acquirers add Wero support, which countries see the first in-store launches in 2027, and how quickly NFC payments follow. Large retailers adopting Wero online, a trend already under way in Germany, could also speed up acceptance in physical stores.

What it means for ODIX Pay users

Account-to-account payments like Wero depend on bank accounts and IBANs, which are also how many people get paid every month. With ODIX Pay you can open a virtual IBAN in your own name, get paid by bank transfer and send the money on from the app. If you are comparing a money transfer app with your bank, every payment shows who sent it the moment it arrives. See how the ODIX virtual IBAN works.