@whynothugo I won't pretend I know much about how Wero works, but I am aware that is based on european bank transfer stuff. I wanted to write something about it, but I barely know anything about the underlying technology and infrastructure.

I tried it once and was extremely underwhelmed. It's just another app that puts arbitrary restrictions on what operating system it is running on, uses a phone number for identification, and shows a QR code for payments. Wero isn't as revolutionary or independent as they themselves and people generally make it out to be, it's more like a 2026 UI on european bank transfers.

What I do care about is making the distinction that the payment cards and services aren't US based anymore but rather based in the EU, which is what I meant previously.

FWIW I've seen people talk about using it without a smartphone in the future, but I'm guessing that's just wishful thinking and not something Wero has communicated as planned. I'd rather an app wasn't necessary in the first place.

@whynothugo I'm with you on this. It's great something like Wero is in the works to replace the dependency on US services in the payment area, but there's so much missed potential here: No phone number required, payments without Android/iOS.

It essentially consists of sending money and approving transactions through your bank. Both could have been done with the same effectiveness if usernames were used instead of phone numbers, and banks allowed approving transactions through other means than mobile apps. The way it is now completely unnecessarily fully binds the service to a smartphone running Android or iOS.

But I guess it is a slight improvement over Visa/MasterCard and PayPal as transactions go through european banks and fees aren't paid out to US companies.