title: European Economic Area — Product Innovation & Market Development | World Payments Monitor canonical: https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/w9/ publisher: Asymmetric Intelligence ### W9 Product Innovation & Market Development Confirmed confirmed 2026-06-20 EEA product development is led by instant A2A rails and a sovereign-payments agenda. The EPI's Wero wallet (operated since July 2024 across DE/FR/BE) reached 46m+ users and launched an e-commerce solution in November 2025. The ECB concluded the digital euro preparation phase on 29-30 October 2025 and moved to the next phase, targeting potential first issuance in 2029 assuming the Regulation is adopted in 2026. Open-finance access expands via the FIDA proposal (still in trilogue). Horizon · 2027-mid (pilot); 2029 (potential issuance) (± more than a year) Digital euro pilot and potential first issuance_Proposed · Tier 1 source_ Horizon · 2026-H2 (± six months) FIDA (Financial Data Access) Regulation trilogue conclusion_Consultation · Tier 3 source_ Standing sub-brief · as of 20 June 2026 268 words · last cycle 2026-06-20 #### Product Innovation & Market Development Product and market development is led by the digital euro and sovereign A2A rails. On 30 October 2025 the ECB Governing Council moved the digital euro to its next phase, targeting potential first issuance during 2029 on the assumption co-legislators adopt the establishing Regulation in 2026, with a pilot possibly starting mid-2027. This is the central CBDC development for the bloc, conditional on the legislative path in 2026. The sovereign A2A vector is Wero. Wero is an instant account-to-account wallet operated since July 2024 across Germany, France and Belgium and backed by 16 banks and PSPs. It launched an e-commerce solution in Germany in November 2025 with over 46m users; Deutsche Bank and Postbank joined in December 2025, with merchant and POS use cases on the 2025–2026 roadmap. The specific November 2025 e-commerce launch also surfaces as a W13 product release; here it is framed as a sovereign-payments market development. Both bank and non-bank participants back the wallet. The forward open-finance horizon is FIDA. The Financial Data Access Regulation, proposed alongside PSD3/PSR, remained in trilogue in April 2026 and would extend open-banking-style access to investments, pensions, insurance and mortgages — broadening the data-access perimeter beyond payment accounts. This thematic product-access regulatory view is distinct from the discrete commercial events in W13. #### Outlook The trajectory is escalating. The digital euro's progress hinges on co-legislators adopting the establishing Regulation in 2026, with a pilot possibly mid-2027 and issuance targeted for 2029. Wero's merchant and POS roadmap and FIDA's trilogue conclusion, expected in H2 2026, are the other developments to watch as the open-finance perimeter widens. No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged. **Sources and findings (4)** 1. T1 ECB (Tier-1) 2. T3 EPI / Deutsche Bank 3. T3 Crassula PSD3/PSR guide 4. T3 Société Générale / EPI