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Agree that nobody considers it a sweetheart but you're wrong on the ex-US issue. Paypal is big in Germany for instance and I literally know nobody who uses Pay

by AdamN 20d ago

Agree that nobody considers it a sweetheart but you're wrong on the ex-US issue. Paypal is big in Germany for instance and I literally know nobody who uses Paypal in the US (maybe for eBay stuff??)

pimeys 20d ago
Probably not very long. Multiple companies, including Amazon, started supporting Wero for payments. And most banks already support it. You scan a QR code or open a link that opens your bank app, show your fingerprint, see the amount and which account and to who, and you approve. Very easy and costs nothing to the seller nor the buyer. Next year we'll get this in the physical stores...
- tetec1 20d ago
  You’re overestimating their ability to change. I still regularly have to pay in cash in many businesses here in Berlin. Wero is a great start but I suspect that PayPal will stay around for many more years.
  - icantevenhold 20d ago
    At the same time you’re underestimating it. Before covid almost no small businesses would offer card payment; now it’s common. Sure there are some that are against digital payments and they won’t accept Wero neither, but I would argue the number is very small. And sure in bars/clubs/nightlife it’s cash only but that also won’t change - it’s for tax reasons. People don’t like PayPal and only use it for the lack of a better alternative. EC is widely used and I bet that Wero will be as well. Source: lived last 15 years in Berlin
    - deleted 20d ago
      [deleted]
  - sajithdilshan 20d ago
    As a principal I boycott places that only accepts cash in Berlin. There is absolutely no reason for them to accept money only in cash in 2026, except for tax evasion and money laundering
    - Symbiote 19d ago
      What about a principled stance that a payment should remain anonymous, without being logged by a domestic bank, let alone a foreign company. I used to go to a bar in Copenhagen with that principle.
      - sajithdilshan 19d ago
        Read my comment again. I said I boycott places that only accepts cash. They can absolutely accept both cards and cash and the only reason they do that is to not pay taxes. I would rather everyone pay taxes without any exceptions
        Symbiote 19d ago
        I understood it. The bar with the privacy principle didn't accept cards, and had a sign to that effect on the bar.
        porkpieshoe 19d ago
        [flagged]
        sajithdilshan 19d ago
        Comment that with your real account coward instead of using fake accounts. Who gives a shit about respect from spineless cowards like you
        deleted 19d ago
        [deleted]
    - 19d ago
  - inemesitaffia 19d ago
    Likely casual tax fraud
- master-lincoln 20d ago
  What, why would you need Wero for that? That would just be an EPC-QR-Code using SEPA. Wero is just some cancer in between to sniff off user emails and phone numbers in my eyes.
  - johannes1234321 20d ago
    Since banks want a product they can sell. The European Central Bank is working on regulation regarding the "Digital Euro" which is a bit in a marketing hype loop using block chain and other terms as a hype, while fundamentally trying to come up with a Euro-Zone-Wide approach to create a mostly anonymous digital currency, with some offline capability. If they come up with a final working concept paper, this would become legally mandated with low charges. Wero is a product by banks, trying to be faster. Trying to have an established platform under their control, which is well established before ECB is ready with D€.
noxvilleza 20d ago
Part of this is just the banking here in Germany being so bad. Fast ('instant') transfers are relatively new for many banks, online banking has always been quite poor/limited, and many of the cards they used to offer were Girocard (or Maestro) and didn't work with online retailers. Paypal has always been a great buffer to those problems.
- MrGilbert 20d ago
  Well, to be fair, even for many customers 'instant' transfers are new. Even if their bank offers them for months now. Some folks still consider 'online banking' a novelty.
  - noxvilleza 19d ago
    In 2015 when I still lived in South Africa, you could do near-instant online transfers - but there is/was a cost involved (I think about $0.45 for transactions under $250). Online banking was super common then, I imagine it's become even more so in the last 10 years. I was quite shocked by how outdated the German banking system was, although it's definitely improved in many ways in the last decade.
    - FireBeyond 19d ago
      Even in 2006, in Australia you could do interbank transfers with near instant availability (certainly within 60s), usually for free.
- subpixel 20d ago
  In 1995 I could give anyone in Germany my PostBank konto number and they could “wire” me money by calling the bank. In 2026 I pay contractors working on my US house by logging into my bank and instructing it to mail a paper check. The only exception is Venmo which everyone expects will be enshittified.
- Philadelphia 19d ago
  That’s interesting, because every time there’s something about a money transfer service, there are a ton of posts saying “Oh, the United States is so backwards, in Europe you could do this forever.” Apparently, by Europe, they mean the particular place they happen to live in.

by AdamN 20d ago

Agree that nobody considers it a sweetheart but you're wrong on the ex-US issue. Paypal is big in Germany for instance and I literally know nobody who uses Paypal in the US (maybe for eBay stuff??)

pimeys 20d ago

Probably not very long. Multiple companies, including Amazon, started supporting Wero for payments. And most banks already support it. You scan a QR code or open a link that opens your bank app, show your fingerprint, see the amount and which account and to who, and you approve. Very easy and costs nothing to the seller nor the buyer. Next year we'll get this in the physical stores...

tetec1 20d ago
You’re overestimating their ability to change. I still regularly have to pay in cash in many businesses here in Berlin. Wero is a great start but I suspect that PayPal will stay around for many more years.
- icantevenhold 20d ago
  At the same time you’re underestimating it. Before covid almost no small businesses would offer card payment; now it’s common. Sure there are some that are against digital payments and they won’t accept Wero neither, but I would argue the number is very small. And sure in bars/clubs/nightlife it’s cash only but that also won’t change - it’s for tax reasons. People don’t like PayPal and only use it for the lack of a better alternative. EC is widely used and I bet that Wero will be as well. Source: lived last 15 years in Berlin
  - deleted 20d ago
    [deleted]
- sajithdilshan 20d ago
  As a principal I boycott places that only accepts cash in Berlin. There is absolutely no reason for them to accept money only in cash in 2026, except for tax evasion and money laundering
  - Symbiote 19d ago
    What about a principled stance that a payment should remain anonymous, without being logged by a domestic bank, let alone a foreign company. I used to go to a bar in Copenhagen with that principle.
    - sajithdilshan 19d ago
      Read my comment again. I said I boycott places that only accepts cash. They can absolutely accept both cards and cash and the only reason they do that is to not pay taxes. I would rather everyone pay taxes without any exceptions
      - Symbiote 19d ago
        I understood it. The bar with the privacy principle didn't accept cards, and had a sign to that effect on the bar.
      - porkpieshoe 19d ago
        [flagged]
        sajithdilshan 19d ago
        Comment that with your real account coward instead of using fake accounts. Who gives a shit about respect from spineless cowards like you
        deleted 19d ago
        [deleted]
  - 19d ago
- inemesitaffia 19d ago
  Likely casual tax fraud
master-lincoln 20d ago
What, why would you need Wero for that? That would just be an EPC-QR-Code using SEPA. Wero is just some cancer in between to sniff off user emails and phone numbers in my eyes.
- johannes1234321 20d ago
  Since banks want a product they can sell. The European Central Bank is working on regulation regarding the "Digital Euro" which is a bit in a marketing hype loop using block chain and other terms as a hype, while fundamentally trying to come up with a Euro-Zone-Wide approach to create a mostly anonymous digital currency, with some offline capability. If they come up with a final working concept paper, this would become legally mandated with low charges. Wero is a product by banks, trying to be faster. Trying to have an established platform under their control, which is well established before ECB is ready with D€.

noxvilleza 20d ago

Part of this is just the banking here in Germany being so bad. Fast ('instant') transfers are relatively new for many banks, online banking has always been quite poor/limited, and many of the cards they used to offer were Girocard (or Maestro) and didn't work with online retailers. Paypal has always been a great buffer to those problems.

MrGilbert 20d ago
Well, to be fair, even for many customers 'instant' transfers are new. Even if their bank offers them for months now. Some folks still consider 'online banking' a novelty.
- noxvilleza 19d ago
  In 2015 when I still lived in South Africa, you could do near-instant online transfers - but there is/was a cost involved (I think about $0.45 for transactions under $250). Online banking was super common then, I imagine it's become even more so in the last 10 years. I was quite shocked by how outdated the German banking system was, although it's definitely improved in many ways in the last decade.
  - FireBeyond 19d ago
    Even in 2006, in Australia you could do interbank transfers with near instant availability (certainly within 60s), usually for free.
subpixel 20d ago
In 1995 I could give anyone in Germany my PostBank konto number and they could “wire” me money by calling the bank. In 2026 I pay contractors working on my US house by logging into my bank and instructing it to mail a paper check. The only exception is Venmo which everyone expects will be enshittified.
Philadelphia 19d ago
That’s interesting, because every time there’s something about a money transfer service, there are a ton of posts saying “Oh, the United States is so backwards, in Europe you could do this forever.” Apparently, by Europe, they mean the particular place they happen to live in.