N26 switches on Wero payments in Germany and France
N26 launched Wero, the instant payment solution developed by the European Payments Initiative, inside its app on August 11, according to a company announcement carried by Financial IT. Eligible customers in Germany and France can send and receive money using only a phone number or email address, without entering or sharing an IBAN, with funds arriving in the recipient’s bank account in under ten seconds over SEPA Instant.
The feature sits inside the app’s existing transfer flow rather than in a separate application, according to The Paypers. Instant transfers without an IBAN have been available between N26 accounts for more than a decade; Wero extends that capability beyond the bank’s own customer base for the first time, reaching recipients who hold accounts elsewhere and use no separate payment app.
“Instant payments without an IBAN have been a core N26 feature since our inception,” said Daniel Lappas, chief product and business officer at N26, in the announcement.
A wider rollout to additional markets is planned, though the bank named no timeline or country list. The launch follows a membership agreement N26 signed with the initiative in December, which targeted Germany, France and the Netherlands for the second half of 2026.
Wero, built by a group of European banks and payment providers to establish a common transfer standard for the region, launched in July 2024 and operates in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Deutsche Bank completed adoption across its three consumer brands on August 6, and the network has passed 50 million registered users and 100 million processed transactions worth more than 7.5 billion euros, according to TechTimes. In the Netherlands, the domestic scheme iDEAL began rebranding as iDEAL Wero in January, with a full platform transition expected by the end of 2027.
