European Payments Initiative (EPI) has announced the start of the next phase of the migration from iDEAL to Wero in the Netherlands.
From 26 October, the Wero payment service is available for online commercial payments through all participating Dutch banks. Payment service providers (PSPs) can now progressively enable Dutch merchants to deploy Wero.
Merchants are now invited to transition from iDEAL to Wero. EPI has stated that it aims to complete the migration before the end of 2027, describing this timeframe as the best guarantee of a successful and smooth transition.
From 26 October, the Wero ecommerce use case is available to customers of ABN AMRO, ASN Bank, bunq, BUUT, Finom, ING, Knab, Nationale-Nederlanden, Rabobank, Triodos Bank and Van Lanschot Kempen. In the second quarter of 2027, commercial payments will be extended with additional payment management options, including subscriptions and pay on delivery.
Through its phased approach, EPI allows every merchant to set its deployment calendar together with its PSP. Extra time is also provided to integrate purchase protection, which will be embedded in Wero for Dutch consumers by January 2028.
The protection solution is being developed with input from merchants, unions, federations, PSPs, consumer associations, banks, and other institutions. A series of workshops will take place in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the final solution to be announced in the first quarter of 2027.
Smoothness, security, and trust have guided the iDEAL to Wero migration from the outset. EPI aims to build on the established use cases and simplicity of iDEAL while adding new use cases and value-added services.
To support the launch of Wero payments in webshops and raise awareness, a new marketing campaign designed by DEPT Agency and orchestrated by Havas Media begins on 26 October and will run until March 2027.
“Seeing Wero in the banking app of our Dutch shareholders and members is definitely the milestone we were looking forward to for the past year,” said Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI.
She added that, thanks to the continuous cooperation of all parties involved, the migration is entering this new phase ahead of the peak season, with the first merchants already joining the Wero journey.
“We are not just championing European sovereignty in payment, we are building it, creating new opportunities for commerce and empowering merchants to thrive,” she said.
Consumers do not need to take any action. Banks will keep their customers informed through official banking channels. Neither Wero nor the banks will ever ask consumers to provide personal or banking information outside the secure banking environment, and no new service needs to be subscribed to.
Wero is based on instant account-to-account (A2A) payments and removes intermediaries from the payment chain. It already supports payments between individuals and is progressively introducing payments to professionals (P2Pro). P2P payments are live in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg, currently serving around 60 million users, with plans to expand into Austria.
For retail payments, Wero is live in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, with a progressive roll-out in France throughout 2026. Point-of-sale payments are already available in Belgium and Luxembourg. The migration from iDEAL to Wero in the Netherlands is expected to involve around 15 million consumers by 2027. Additional value-added services will include merchant loyalty programs, recurring payments, and subscription management.
EPI/Wero is also a founding member of the European Network for Payments (ENP), which aims to progressively connect payment solutions collectively serving around 130 million users across 13 European countries.
