Wero – Digital payment wallet, made in Europe

Post by microtonal » Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 8:28 PM UTC

cyberpunk wrote: post #35

mzajc wrote: post #7

From what I've gathered, they've decided to make this completely unusable without a Google- or Apple-approved smartphone. Horrible! Are individual banks even allowed to make that an option for clients? Though even if they are, I doubt any will. I would LOVE a PayPal alternative, but this is just not it. -- From https://support.wero-wallet.eu/hc/en-us/articles/25599074240... : > It is not possible to use Wero via a we…

This is a regulatory thing, devices used for instant payments should be somehow attested and be authenticated (or be a physical device the bank issued e.g your card). It’s a difficult thing, we don’t want to have to force smartphone choices but the number of users without one these devices is so vanishingly small it’s very difficult to change the legislation in order to support them too. I think the happy middle grou…

Post by pbreit » Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 8:29 PM UTC

dadoum wrote: post #18

Can anyone explain me exactly why it is a suitable alternative to VISA and Mastercard (and why people were waiting for it). I am trying to understand the full picture here, so multiple things come to my mind. First, SEPA instant payments already exist and are really instant up to a certain amount, and I am guessing that Wero builds on top of that a sort of identity layer, to sidestep the whole IBAN thing. But it is l…

Post by cyberpunk » Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 8:30 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #61

cyberpunk wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a regulatory thing, devices used for instant payments should be somehow attested and be authenticated (or be a physical device the bank issued e.g your card). It’s a difficult thing, we don’t want to have to force smartphone choices but the number of users without one these devices is so vanishingly small it’s very difficult to change the legislation in order to support them too. I think the happy middle grou…

This is not true. Many European bank apps allow instant payments and work without Google's remote attestation. They typically require a locked bootloader. I am in The Netherlands, use GrapheneOS and do instant payments all the time. (GrapheneOS does support remote attestation, but the app needs to add their verified boot key fingerprints.)

Post by pbreit » Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 8:31 PM UTC

quotz wrote: post #51

pbreit wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that better than a card payment? Cards are accepted by far more merchants, have dispute rights, are inexpensive (in Europe) to process, supported by Apple & Google Pay, superior checkout experience, etc.

Cards are reliant on US companies -> Visa / Mastercard. The European Payment Initiative wants to remove reliance on the US. Perhaps there can be a ECB payment rail/network that would support cardlike payments too.

Post by microtonal » Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC

Freak_NL wrote: post #28

dadoum wrote: post #18

Can anyone explain me exactly why it is a suitable alternative to VISA and Mastercard (and why people were waiting for it). I am trying to understand the full picture here, so multiple things come to my mind. First, SEPA instant payments already exist and are really instant up to a certain amount, and I am guessing that Wero builds on top of that a sort of identity layer, to sidestep the whole IBAN thing. But it is l…

It's really simple. You're in the Netherlands, and you are going to buy something in an on-line store. Steam perhaps, or any Dutch retailer. You put the game in your Steam cart, and go to pay. You select Ideal (which Steam provides as an option), you pick your bank, and you follow the on-screen instructions (but you probably do that pretty much automatically). Usually that means scanning a QR code with your bank app…