European payment networks serving about 130 million people have agreed to form a joint company focused on strengthening cross-border payments and reducing dependence on US-based payment infrastructure.

The initiative Involves Spain’s Bizum, Italy’s Bancomat, Wero, SIBS-MB WAY and Vipps MobilePay, which announced on Wednesday plans to establish the European Network for Payments (ENP).

Based in Madrid, the new company will run a shared interoperability hub aimed at linking the participating payment networks, the groups said in a statement.

The move comes as European authorities and financial institutions seek to strengthen the continent’s control over its payment systems amid concerns about dependence on major US companies such as Visa and Mastercard, which handle nearly two-thirds of card payments in the European Union.

While the European Central Bank is targeting 2029 for the introduction of a digital euro, national payment systems are concentrating on connecting their existing networks to make cross-border transactions easier.

The five founding members of ENP collectively serve around 130 million users across 13 European countries, representing more than 70% of the population of the European Union and Norway.

According to the companies, the network will link existing payment systems through a common technical and operational framework built around European standards and instant account-to-account payments.

The groups said other European payment schemes could also join the network in the future as the initiative expands.

The rollout will be carried out in phases, starting with cross-border person-to-person payments before extending to e-commerce and transactions at physical points of sale.

The Initiative forms part of wider European efforts to strengthen payment sovereignty as geopolitical changes and emerging forms of money raise concerns about access to international payment infrastructure. (AriseNews TV)