July 7 (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 ( MA ).

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.