Payments: a European alternative to the giants Visa and Mastercard emerges
The European Network for Payments, which will be operational from 2027 as an interconnected network, will make digital payments within and between 13 European countries faster, simpler and less expensive
Key points
Today, 30 September 2026, sees the official launch of European Network for Payments (ENP), the first European payments network established with the aim of managing and developing interoperability between the main payment solutions operating across the continent.
In fact, from 2027, it will be the European alternative to the giants Visa and Mastercard, which together handle around 90 per cent of global card transactions outside China.
The new entity will serve around 130 million users across 13 European countries, covering over 70 per cent of the population of the European Union and Norway.
These are the figures that the Italian company Bancomat, together with their Spanish colleagues at Bizum, their Portuguese colleagues at Sibs-Mb Way, and their Scandinavian colleagues at Vipps MobilePay, not to mention the European consortium Epi Company/Wero, whose main shareholder and founding banks include BNP Paribas, Groupe BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel (BFCM), La Banque Postale, Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, ABN AMRO, ING Group, Rabobank, Belfius, KBC Bank, Erste Bank Oesterreich, Raiffeisen Bank International (and its associated Raiffeisen Landesbanken), along with Nexi (Italia) and Worldline (France).
The objectives
The European Network for Payments (ENP) will manage and develop interoperability between the main European payment solutions participating in the initiative, whilst remaining independent and autonomous from the other payment schemes.
