(Reuters) -Five Belgian banks – Argenta, Bank Van Breda, Beobank, Crelan and vdk bank – said on Monday that they were joining the European Payments Initiative and that they would roll out the EPI’s digital wallet Wero to their customers next year.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:

The EPI was set up by European banks in a bid to rival the dominance of U.S. companies Visa and Mastercard.

EPI has been hit in the past by some other banks leaving its network.

KEY QUOTES:

“By integrating Wero into our offering from 2026, we will empower our clients – entrepreneurs and liberal professions – with a fast, secure, and intuitive way to manage their payments which is fully aligned with their daily needs,” said Bank Van Breda CEO Dirk Wouters.

BY THE NUMBERS:

According to the EPI, the Wero digital wallet it launched last year already has 40 million registered users across Belgium, France, and Germany.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)