Since Donald Trump took office in the White House, „resilience“ and „digital sovereignty“ have been in high demand. These noble goals are promoting yet another attempt at creating a so-called sovereign cloud and are also supporting the latest project for a pan-European digital payment system. Launched just over a year ago, the Wero payment initiative already has around 43 million users across Europe. German institutions in particular have been members from the very beginning. No wonder: after the domestic flops Giropay and Paydirekt, Wero is probably the last hope of building a bulwark against the payment giants Klarna and PayPal.

However, it looks once again as if hope is deceptive. Even though user numbers have grown rapidly so far, experts believe that Wero's pace of innovation leaves something to be desired. So far, the service has mostly stuck to simple P2P payments, with e-commerce use just getting started and in-store payments in preparation – some of which are due to launch the year after next. For the breakthrough of a feature that feels like it's coming decades later than that of established services, the banks involved are relying on cost advantages for commercial users. Meanwhile, cynics say it sounds as if BMW, Mercedes, and VW are teaming up to develop a new „2-liter diesel“ while the global auto industry is racing ahead with electric mobility.

The uninspired „catch-up“ also gives the impression that Wero's operators expect their competitors to be asleep at the wheel. The opposite is true. Tech companies and the blockchain economy are mobilizing billions and innovating on a quarterly basis. PayPal, for example, recently announced an AI partnership with Google to significantly optimize online shopping and payment processes. Others are integrating stablecoins.

While tokenization is advancing rapidly worldwide, the long-term prospects for a payment system based on outdated banking infrastructure appear rather doubtful. In comparison, the digital euro offers the prospect of an alternative Europe-wide payment system that is at least based on modern blockchain technology. Europe should pick up the pace here, because it also makes more sense for banks to invest their money there if they do not want to be left behind in the future when it comes to payment systems.