Airwallex: How Will the Wero Wallet Change Digital Payments?

Global financial platform Airwallex has been named a Principle Member as a result of its partnership with the European Payments Initiative (EPI).

EPI has developed digital wallet Wero to support easy cross-border payments, without IBANs or physical cards. 

The partnership marks the next step in improvements to the currently disjointed payments system. 

Unifying payments 

As the landscape currently stands, multiple barriers to simple payment options include complex A2A competition that vary in structure and governance. 

Airwallex will integrate with Wero to provide direct access to the first home-grown digital wallet in Europe.

Merchants can approach a convenient method of cross-border payments to consumers across Europe. 

Kai Wu, CRO at Airwallex says:  “As a Principal Member of the EPI, Airwallex is proud to help shape the future of digital payments in Europe.” 

“Wero represents a major milestone for European commerce - and by offering it directly through our platform, we’re continuing to empower our global customer base and merchants with cutting-edge local payment methods, global multi-currency accounts and embedded financial tools.”

The partnership will also mean that merchants will no longer be forced to rely on card network legacy systems. 

Regulatory and safety standards for the wallet are in line with EU standards, also dispelling any concerns for compliance. 

What benefits does Wero offer?

Wero aims to completely replace outdated A2A solutions in Europe. 

The wallet unites the continent with simple cross-border payment solutions, with the backing of 16 European banks and payment service providers. 

The wallet is expected to launch in Germany at the end of 2025 for e-commerce payments. After Germany, the wallet will roll out to France and Belgium in 2026. 

Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI says: “Wero is built on the principles of simplicity, security, and sovereignty.”

“Partnering with Airwallex allows us to expand Wero’s reach to a diverse and growing base of international merchants who are driving digital commerce across Europe.”

POS acceptance is yet to be confirmed, however there are plans to introduce this shortly after the rollout to Belgium.

How has Airwallex reached this point? 

The Melbourne-based fintech has set its sights on equalising the playing field for global e-commerce. 

Through its acquisition of OpenPay earlier this year, merchants with Airwallex can now benefit from lower costs when scaling global subscriptions. 

Jack Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, said at the time: “Most billing systems are locked in the past, they were never designed for a global, multi-currency world. That’s the gap we’re closing.”

OpenPay’s real-time insights and smart-payment routing allow merchants an easier way to increase revenue by streamlining operations. 

Airwallex’s acquisition follows its US$300m funding round which reached valuation heights of  US$6.2bn. Its total funding at the time was US$1.2bn. 

Investors of the funding round were possibly influenced by Airwallex’s aggressive expansion strategy earlier in the year as the company expanded its rails into the UK with ClearBank. 

Airwallex gained access to Confirmation of Payee (CoP), and other UK payment schemes such as BACS, Faster Payments and CHAPS. 

In the same week, Airwallex announced an acquisition of Mexican fintech MexPago and its Brazil licence, expanding into a growing LatAm fintech market with dual-entry.