what would be an alternative currently? i know of services like twint but this is a local swiss solution. any more EU wide established solutions??

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foepys an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Wero [1] is build on the Dutch iDEAL system and is currently on an upwards trajectory with both banks and retail [2].

1: https://wero-wallet.eu/

2: https://www.werotracker.eu/

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petcat 34 minutes ago | parent [-]

I've never seen Wero before. Is it similar to Zelle in the US?

Edit: it looks like Wero requires Google/Apple device attestation [1]. So this is basically a non-starter in terms of "sovereignty" from the US government. Anybody on the wrong side of US sanctions still can't use this since they get their iOS/Google Android devices shut off too.

[1] https://support.wero-wallet.eu/hc/en-us/articles/25599098295...

	▲	toomuchtodo 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		It gives the Zelle UX to the underlying SEPA Instant infrastructure across the EU. The EU is using Wero to migrate off of Visa and Mastercard. Parent's werotracker tracks not only banks supporting it, but merchants as well. Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48207004 - May 2026 (777 comments) Wero – Digital payment wallet, made in Europe - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47038965 - February 2026 (132 comments) Europe's Banks Launch Wero Payments to Dislodge Visa, Mastercard - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41666833 - September 2024 (88 comments) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area > Edit: it looks like Wero requires Google or Apple device attestation. So this is basically a non-starter in terms of "sovereignty" from the US government. You don't replace the entire stack at once, you replace it piece by piece. Each piece gets you closer to sovereignty. Payment infra, payment rails->tech infra and foundational systems next. If US Big Tech pulls the rug, that Jira ticket goes to the top of the stack. It will take time, but we're headed in the right direction for Europe to decouple from the US. You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Perfect does not exist, nor is there a quick fix, only reasonable efforts to continue to work over time towards success criteria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop Any revenue and capital that can be retained in the EU versus being sent to the US is capital that can be recycled into further decoupling and domestic EU investment, versus ending up as US shareholder profits and tax revenues. (think in systems)

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alexgieg 28 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Cryptocurrencies in general are a good alternative. They're strictly unsanctionable and, depending on the currency selected, also untraceable, so secondary sanctions would be extremely difficult to apply with any kind of granularity. National-scale sanctions, evidently, would still be quite feasible.

Alas, that kind of anonymity runs counter to the very soul of the European bureaucratic ethos. They absolutely want to know in detail where every single cent goes, plus the power to block transactions at will, so they're looking into some magic solution that allows them full purview and full control while perfectly denying the US and its spy apparatus the possibility to also see into it, an impossible combination of requirements.

And I say all that as a fan of the EU. It's one of their many blind spots they need to overcome if they ever want to become a technological superpower.