Wero Moves Closer in Luxembourg… and the Merchant Shift Has Started

Hey Payments Fanatic!

Wero just took another concrete step forward in Luxembourg.

After regulatory approval, Payconiq’s Luxembourg merchant portfolio has been transferred to Buckaroo, marking the operational start of a new setup ahead of Wero’s rollout.

This is part of a broader partnership between Payconiq International, Buckaroo, and the European Payments Initiative.

For merchants, the change is already live. Buckaroo now becomes their PSP, while existing Payconiq services continue running unchanged until the migration to Wero is completed later this year.

For consumers, nothing changes yet. But behind the scenes, the plumbing is being rewired.

Another reminder that Wero isn’t launching with a big bang everywhere at once. It’s rolling out market by market, starting with merchants, operations, and regulatory groundwork...

What else is quietly moving across Payments today? Scroll down and check the news below 👇 I’ll be back next week with more stories.

Cheers,

Marcel

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NEWS

🇱🇺 Wero payments move one step closer in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is expected to join the Wero network in June 2026, with five major retail banks: Spuerkeess, BGL BNP Paribas, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Post Luxembourg, and Banque Raiffeisen. Wero is Europe’s attempt to build a continent-wide alternative to dominant global payment platforms.

🇭🇰 Evangelos Kaldelis, Deputy CEO of 3S Money, took the stage at the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) to share the company’s vision for expanding in Hong Kong. He said businesses are moving faster across borders and that payments should not become a bottleneck, highlighting 3S Money’s experience in Europe and MENA to support Asian companies globally.

🇶🇦 PayLater closes a record-breaking $10mln seed round to accelerate Buy Now, Pay Later growth in Qatar. PayLater will deploy the capital to support sectoral expansion into key verticals such as travel, education, and healthcare, while continuing to strengthen its product offering through the launch of new financial features powered by advanced credit assessment technologies.

🇨🇳 OSL Group raises $200M to expand stablecoin and payments business. The Hong Kong–listed digital asset company said the capital injection will strengthen its balance sheet and support growth across regulated digital payment and settlement services.

🇲🇽 Payoneer expands capabilities in Mexico and Indonesia. These additions enable customers to transact and receive funds from local buyers and e-commerce platforms faster and more cost-effectively, helping businesses access new growth markets as global trade flows continue to evolve.

🇺🇸 Amazon to stop Amazon One palm payments. Amazon will end its Amazon One palm-recognition payment system and remove all palm readers from physical locations by June 3, 2026, citing low customer adoption. All customer data linked to the service will be securely deleted after it ends.

🇦🇪 UAE Central Bank pilots palm and face biometric payments. The solution, powered by PopID, is being demonstrated at the Dubai Land Department, which is part of the Dubai Government. Under the pilot, customers can make payments by authenticating their identity using face or palm biometrics.

🇺🇸 ServiceNow and Fiserv expand strategic commitment to accelerate AI-driven transformation of financial services. As part of the agreement, Fiserv will scale its use of ServiceNow Now Assist for Financial Services Operations and IT Service Management to improve operations across IT and customer service environments supporting Fiserv clients.

🌍 Form3 expands growing client base with European FinTech Mollie. The implementation enables Mollie to meet European VoP requirements and better protect its customers from misdirected payments and authorised push payment fraud.

🇺🇸 Papaya Global launches global workforce wallet powered by Fireblocks. Banco Wallet, the new global workforce wallet, secures digital asset infrastructure and unlocks payment capabilities for global employers, overcoming the limitations of legacy financial systems.

🌍 Volt partners with ClearBank to power the latest generation of merchant account capabilities. The collaboration enables Volt to offer critical enhancements to its account-based cash management capabilities in the UK and Europe, moving open banking payments a step closer to realising their full operational potential.

🇺🇸 Neobank Dakota launches stablecoin platform for businesses. Dakota was started in 2022 as a banking and stablecoin FinTech for businesses. The company plans to continue offering business banking and stablecoins to clients even as the firm shifts toward tech infrastructure offerings.

🇺🇸 Zelle network expands by 15%. The expansion focused on smaller and underserved communities through partnerships with Velera and Alacriti, helping community banks and credit unions integrate Zelle using existing technology infrastructure.

🇮🇪 Block announces the opening of a strategic European Hub in Dublin. The strategic move marks a significant milestone in Block's European presence and reflects the company's commitment to investing in talent, innovation, and community development across the region.

🇮🇳 Indian FinTech firm Paytm beats quarterly profit view on core business growth. The digital payments firm posted a net profit of 2.25 billion rupees for the quarter ended December 31, from a loss of 2.08 billion rupees a year earlier. Continue reading

🇬🇧 UK FinTech Guavapay enters compulsory liquidation following winding up petition by Mastercard. The petition alleged that Guavapay had failed to pay Mastercard a debt of £10.8 million, made up of a principal amount of $10 million and fees, charges, and penalties totalling around $800,000.

🇵🇱 Viva.com extends BLIK code payments to in-store checkout via tap on any device, covering online and in-person payments across Poland. The new functionality allows BLIK 6-digit code payments to be accepted, quickly and securely, on any device - from smartphones and tablets to kiosks and vending machines.

🇺🇸 Fidelity enters stablecoin market with launch of FIDD-backed 1:1 to U.S. dollar. FIDD will be available to retail and institutional users on Fidelity platforms and crypto exchanges, and will be transferable on the Ethereum mainnet. Continue reading

🇺🇸 OnePay names Patrick O'Connell as CFO from AMC Networks. He will oversee finance, strategy, and long-term planning for OnePay. He joins the company’s leadership team amid a period of rapid growth. Keep reading

🇪🇺 EPC launches FRIDA RFI as EU rules push tougher fraud sharing. Under the proposals, Payment Service Providers would be responsible for transaction monitoring and for sharing fraud information with other PSPs to help prevent and address payment fraud, including provisions set out in Article 83 on transaction monitoring mechanisms and Article 83a on fraud data sharing.

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