The European Payment Alliance is beginning the switch to instant cross-border payments between mobile transfer schemes Bancomat, Bizum, MB Way and Iberia's Sibs, enabling users in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Andorra to send and receive money instantly to mobile phone numbers.
EuroPA enables interoperability between Italy's Bancomat, Spanish scheme Bizum and Portugal's MB WAY, connecting more than 50 million users and 186 financial institutions from Italy, Portugal, Spain and Andorra.
Bancomat, Bizum and MB WAY are the leading mobile payment solutions in their countries, with more than 2 billion payments in 2024 and a share of more than 65% of total instant payments in the four countries.
It is expected that all participant banks, from Italy, Portugal, Spain and Andorra, will be connected by June.
Much like the the European Payments Initiative, EuroPA is striving to provide a euro-owned payment system capable of wresting control away from US card brands.
The scope of the alliance is expected to grow, extending to include additional use cases and expanding to more countries, both euro and non-euro.