Austria banks join Wero network to expand instant payments for nomads

How Wero will reach Austria

Erste Bank Oesterreich and the Raiffeisen banking group, including Raiffeisen Bank International and several regional Raiffeisen banks, have become shareholders in the European Payments Initiative to bring the Wero instant-payment wallet to Austria. No consumer go-live date has been announced.

Wero is an account-to-account wallet built on SEPA Instant rails, moving euros between bank accounts in seconds, 24/7, without card networks. It went live in mid-2024 in Belgium, France and Germany, with the Netherlands and Luxembourg slated to join the network in 2026. The Austrian announcement covers governance and integration work, not a live service.

Who feels the change

Customers of Erste and Raiffeisen in Austria see no immediate change. Their day-to-day payments remain SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant where offered and card rails. Once Wero is integrated, the two groups cover a large share of Austrian retail banking, so most account holders should eventually get a "Pay with Wero" option inside their existing mobile banking app.

Expats and nomads in Austria who hold a German, French, Belgian, Dutch or Luxembourg IBAN with a Wero-enabled bank can already use Wero for peer-to-peer and online payments inside the live countries. They can't yet send Wero payments to Austrian IBANs or pay Austrian merchants through the wallet.

Tourists from live Wero countries are in the same position: the wallet works at home and across borders where merchants accept it, but Austrian point-of-sale and ecommerce acceptance depends on a later phase of the rollout that has no public date.

What to do now

Anyone banking in Austria with Erste or a Raiffeisen institution should watch their mobile app's payment settings over the coming months for a Wero opt-in. Costs to end users are expected to mirror SEPA Instant pricing at each bank, which is free or low-fee for retail transfers in most participating markets.

Nomads moving to Austria who want instant euro transfers today can open or keep an account in a live Wero country, then use it alongside an Austrian account until local rollout begins. Cross-border SEPA Instant transfers between euro accounts already settle in seconds at most major banks.

Read our full Austria guide for the complete picture and check our nomad news for rollout updates.