It aspired to become a competitor of the American Visa and MasterCard. The European payment service European Payment Initiative (EPI) will enter the test phase at the end of the year, announced Tuesday the banking consortium in charge of its development. "The digital wallet with person-to-person payment will be launched in pilot phase with the first users at the end of 2023 in France and Germany," EPI said in a statement.

In concrete terms, users will be able to transfer money between themselves, from bank account to bank account, free of charge and in a few seconds. This option will be offered, alongside the classic transfer, via the customer's bank application or a dedicated application on a mobile phone. This service "will be gradually extended to payments from individual to professional, online purchases, then point-of-sale payments," the document continues, between the beginning of 2024 and 2025.

Sixteen partner banks

It will be available in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. "Together, these markets account for more than 60% of electronic transactions in Europe, which is a very good basis for growth," EPI Director General Martina Weimert told a press conference. EPI also announced the acquisition of two start-ups, the Dutch Currence iDEAL and the Luxembourg payment solutions provider Payconiq International (PQI), for an undisclosed amount.

The group also announces four new partner banks: the Belgian Belfius, the German DZ Bank (which had left a year ago) and two Dutch heavyweights, ABN Amro and Rabobank. The six main French banks - Crédit Mutuel, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, La Banque Postale, BPCE, Société Générale - are shareholders in the consortium, as is the payment player Worldline. The alliance has a total of 16 members.

A project that has reduced its ambitions

Announced in the summer of 2020, the European card scheme aimed to create a new unified pan-European payment solution, based on instant transaction technology, with a view to offering an alternative to the giants of the Visa and MasterCard sector.

But the project has since suffered numerous defections and has consequently scaled back its ambitions. The card component was abandoned early last year, with the consortium refocusing on a digital wallet and instant payment technology, which allows transfers to be made in seconds.

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