PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result
SIGN UP
  • Commercial
  • Credit
  • Debit
  • Digital Assets & Crypto
  • Digital Banking
  • Emerging Payments
  • Fraud & Security
  • Merchant
  • Prepaid
PaymentsJournal
  • Commercial
  • Credit
  • Debit
  • Digital Assets & Crypto
  • Digital Banking
  • Emerging Payments
  • Fraud & Security
  • Merchant
  • Prepaid
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result

What the Closing of Paydirekt Means for EPI

By Tom Nawrocki
June 13, 2024
in Emerging Payments, News
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
ECB AI, BLIK payments, top payment methods Europe

European Telecommunication Network Connected

Paydirekt, the German initiative launched in 2015 as Europe’s answer to PayPal, is shutting down. The project has been overtaken by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), formed four years ago to combat the encroaching dominance of American-based payment rivals like Visa and Apple Pay. The move marks another step toward EPI establishing itself as the dominant European online payment system.

EPI has announced that its goal is to build a unified payment system to be used across Europe. Its key offering, a digital wallet, is currently being rolled out to support account-to-account instant P2P and consumer-to-business payments, as well as online, mobile, and point-of-sale payments in the near future.

The group’s initial intent was to challenge U.S. giants Mastercard and Visa in Europe as a card issuer, but the immediate victims seem to be its Euro-based rivals. Paydirekt was launched by a consortium of major German banks as a way for online shoppers to pay directly from their bank accounts. But its service, branded as Giropay, never really caught on. According to data from EHI Retail Institute, Giropay commanded just 1.2% of all online payments even within Germany.

High Hopes

EPI launched in July 2020 with the backing of 16 major European banks, eventually growing to include 31 major banks, as well as third-party acquirers Worldline and Nets, who became shareholders in the EPI Interim Company. Its stated ambition was to create “a truly European digital payment solution, carefully designed for the business needs of the 21st century,” as Gilles Grapinet, Chairman and CEO of Worldline, noted.

However, the consortium faced challenges and may have been too ambitious. In March 2022, 20 banks pulled out of EPI, forcing the organization to shift its plans from challenging Visa and Mastercard with a card of its own to focusing on developing its digital wallet, to be called Wero.

Wero will soon be available to consumers in Belgium, France, and Germany, and is scheduled to be introduced in the Netherlands and other European nations in the coming years. The shutdown of Paydirekt suggests that its rivals expect Wero and EPI to succeed in these efforts. EPI has regained its footing and is poised to become the dominant player in this category for the foreseeable future.

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Tags: Banking ChannelsEPIEuropean Payments InitiativeGiropay

    Get the Latest News and Insights Delivered Daily

    Subscribe to the PaymentsJournal Newsletter for exclusive insight and data from Javelin Strategy & Research analysts and industry professionals.

    Must Reads

    amazon return fraud

    Amazon Takes on Returns Fraud

    July 25, 2025
    biometric merchant

    Biometric Payments Pilots Are Picking Up, But U.S. Adoption Is Years Away

    July 24, 2025
    ai credit card

    Smart Cards: How AI Is Changing the Credit Industry

    July 23, 2025
    accounts payable

    A Fragmented Accounts Payable Process Is a Liability in More Ways Than One

    July 22, 2025
    PayDay Lending: Out on the Fringes and Still an Ugly Business, payday lenders, Payday lending rule, national debt, changing relationship with money

    Legislation Requiring Cash Acceptance Faces an Uphill Battle

    July 21, 2025
    supply chain payments

    The Payment Process: The Supply Chain’s Most Overlooked Cyber Risk

    July 17, 2025
    Navigating Global Fintech Regulations Through Strategic Regulatory Arbitrage

    Navigating Global Fintech Regulations Through Strategic Regulatory Arbitrage

    July 16, 2025
    AI Is Turning Accounts Receivable Into a Strategic Powerhouse

    AI Is Turning Accounts Receivable Into a Strategic Powerhouse

    July 15, 2025

    Linkedin-in X-twitter
    • Commercial
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Digital Banking
    • Commercial
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Digital Banking
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Sign Up for Our Newsletter
    • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Sign Up for Our Newsletter

    ©2024 PaymentsJournal.com |  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

    • Commercial Payments
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    No Result
    View All Result