Guide
The future of payments in Europe.
The bank card was one of the last things in your wallet that a phone had not replaced. In Europe that is changing on three fronts at once: bank transfers that arrive in seconds, a European wallet built on them, and a digital euro being prepared by the central bank. A phone, a watch or a ring at the till is the part you see; the bigger change is underneath.
In short. Since October 2025, banks in the euro area must be able to send instant euro transfers, at no higher price than their ordinary ones, with a free check of the payee’s name; the rest of the EU follows in 2027. Wero, a wallet built on those transfers by European banks, has sent money by phone number in Belgium, France and Germany since 2024 and is starting in shops. The European Central Bank is preparing a digital euro, free for basic use and usable offline, that could be issued during 2029 if EU law is adopted first. At the till, cards are already turning into tokens on phones, watches and rings. Cash stays legal tender.
Transfers that arrive in seconds
The EU’s Instant Payments Regulation, adopted in March 2024, made instant euro transfers a standard service rather than an extra. A bank that offers ordinary transfers must also offer instant ones, and may not charge more for them.
- Receiving: banks in the euro area since 9 January 2025; the rest of the EU from 9 January 2027.
- Sending: banks in the euro area since 9 October 2025; the rest of the EU from 9 July 2027. Electronic-money and payment institutions have their own dates in 2027.
- The name check: since 9 October 2025 in the euro area, before you send any transfer, your bank checks the account number against the name you typed and tells you whether they match, nearly match or do not match. It is free for the payer, and it is aimed at a common fraud: money sent to an account that is not who you think.
Wero: a European wallet
Wero comes from the European Payments Initiative, a Brussels company backed by European banks and payment processors, and it runs on those instant transfers. According to the company, it launched in 2024 in Belgium, France and Germany, inside many banks’ own apps or as a separate app. You send or request money with a phone number instead of an account number, which Wero says arrives in ten seconds or less, at any hour. It also pays in online shops that offer it, and in-shop payments are taking their first steps. The company began rolling it out in the Netherlands in October 2026. It publishes no user count, and these are its own statements.
The digital euro
The digital euro would be money issued by the European Central Bank itself, like cash, but digital. After an investigation phase and a preparation phase, the ECB moved to its next phase in October 2025. It is aiming for a possible first issuance during 2029, on condition that the EU regulation is adopted, which it expects by the end of 2026: the Council agreed its position in December 2025, the European Parliament in July 2026, and the two are now negotiating. The ECB has not decided to issue it. What it plans, according to its own answers to common questions:
- Free for basic use by individuals; banks may charge for extra services.
- Offline payments with a cash-like level of privacy: only payer and payee would know the details.
- Wherever digital payments are accepted: the Commission’s proposal would oblige shops that take card or digital payments to accept it, in person and online, and it would work between people too.
- A holding limit per person, not yet set; the ECB has analysed limits of up to 3,000 euro, with a linked bank account covering payments above it.
- Alongside cash, not instead of it: cash would remain legal tender.
A pilot is planned for the second half of 2027, for twelve months.
At the till: cards become tokens
When you add a card to a phone, a watch or a ring, your bank issues a payment token for that device: a stand-in for your card number, so the shop does not see the real one, and a lost device can be switched off without replacing the card. In the EU, small contactless payments can go through without a PIN up to limits set by law and by your bank. How it works in the moment you tap: how tap to pay works, and what changes when the device is on your finger: paying with a ring.
What it means for you
- Fewer card numbers in circulation. Tokens on devices, and wallets that pay straight from your bank account, keep the card number out of more places.
- Money between people in seconds, by phone number, and a name check before a transfer goes out.
- More ways to pay from the same account: card, phone, watch, ring, a wallet like Wero, and later perhaps a digital euro.
- Less need for the phone itself. A watch or a ring can pay with your hand, the phone in your bag: leaving your phone at home.
Where a ring fits
Lychnos Ring is planned to pay at shop terminals through a licensed payment partner, with a payment chip and its own antenna in the ring and a token instead of your card number. Its eSIM does a different job: it connects the ring to the internet, so its assistant works without your phone; paying at a terminal does not use it. What an eSIM is, and is not. Later, the ring’s assistant may pay a bill by voice, only to payees you have approved, within small limits and with your press on the ring. All of this is in development and depends on partners we have not chosen yet.
Sources, read 4 and 5 November 2026: European Central Bank, Instant Payments Regulation, digital euro, progress on the digital euro and FAQs on the digital euro (updated 17 August 2026); European Payments Initiative, EPI Company, and all about Wero. General information, not financial advice.
Questions
What is Wero?
A payment wallet from the European Payments Initiative, a company backed by European banks and payment firms. It launched in 2024 in Belgium, France and Germany: you send money to a phone number from your bank’s app or the Wero app, and it also pays in some online shops. Payments in shops are just starting, and the Netherlands roll-out began in October 2026.
When will the digital euro be available?
Not yet. The European Central Bank is preparing for a possible first issuance during 2029, on condition that the EU regulation is adopted, which it expects by the end of 2026, and it has not decided to issue. A pilot is planned for the second half of 2027.
Are instant transfers free?
The EU rule is that a bank’s instant euro transfers may not cost more than its ordinary ones, and the check of the payee’s name must be free for the payer. The rule is about equal prices, not about zero.