As of 1 September, Wero, the new digital payment solution developed by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), has officially launched in Luxembourg. However, some users are already having trouble activating their accounts, with some finding themselves locked out of the service entirely.
According to Ralf Hamal from the European Payments Initiative (EPI), around 0.75% of users are unable to activate their accounts, noting that operational changes always come with a new service. He emphasised that EPI is working closely with banks to resolve these issues.
Banks in Luxembourg, including Spuerkeess, have limited control over the problem, as the difficulty typically arises during the identity verification process required for certain customers.
Benoît Elvinger, the future Chief Executive Officer of Spuerkeess, explained that in rare cases, additional information is requested by EPI, which banks can directly supply. He observes that EPI sometimes requires more time to process the information and remains confident that solutions will be found.
So far, around 87,000 Spuerkeess clients have registered with Wero, representing a significant share of former Payconiq users. Of the transactions carried out with Wero, 95% are successful on the first attempt, with the ultimate goal being to reach 100%.
EPI, which acquired the licence for Payconiq, will shut down the old payment service from 30 September as previously announced, and this timeline is expected to remain unchanged.
Users who have not yet managed to activate Wero will need to be patient. They are advised not to restart the activation process, as doing so will not speed things up. Hamal explained that EPI must complete the process, which, unfortunately, can take longer for some customers, apologising for the delays.
