HR Insights: HR’s case for European pay alternatives

 

Europe is facing a growing dilemma in its payment systems. The Financial Times recently published that nearly two-thirds of card transactions across the continent rely on U.S. payment networks – primarily Visa and Mastercard.  

Although this dependence may initially simply seem convenient, rising geopolitical tensions indicate potential strategic risks and reinforce the need for a stronger European alternative. 

To look deeper into this dilemma, we sat down with Nils De Bremaeker, Chief Financial Officer at WorxInvest, the parent company of SD Worx and host of HR Pay Solutions. 

HR Pay Solutions, hosted by WorxInvest, is a smart finance and payment platform for HR teams. Integrated with SD Worx payroll and benefits systems, it helps organisations manage workforce-related payments. 

Although a European alternative sounds good in theory, a payment system that works hasn’t been built yet.  

Nils continues, “The issue we have is that everyone wants something ‘European’, but then each country mostly wants what benefits its own nation. For instance, each country wants its own card scheme; in France you have Carte Bancaire, in Germany girocard.” 

“That’s why there isn’t really something unified. They’d rather have an American solution than a German system. There are several smaller initiatives, such as Wero, the planned successor to Payconiq, that are attempting pan-European reach, but this adoption has still been limited as it still remains an account 2 account system which only works between the participating banks, it has no card scheme yet.” 

Additionally, the digital euro that the ECB plans to launch in 2029 will not be able to replace American card schemes, as the maximum amount of digital euros per citizen will likely be capped at a low level. Essentially, what we find is that many in Europe share this ambition, but scale and coordination are acting as barriers in developing a successful alternative.  

When you step back from consumer payments, it becomes clear how much more nuanced the situation is in HR. Companies must manage multiple types of payments each month, ranging from contractors and benefits to reimbursements and cross-border payments.  

For employers, this is where complexity and regulations can take the debate from theory to practice. 

Nils says, “Clients abroad are not used to giving money to payroll providers. However, international payments are in high demand. For example, companies with headquarters in Belgium but small teams abroad and no finance departments want compliance – so HR Pay should serve that too. As we developed HR Pay, it became very clear that we need to shift toward flexible benefits and pay.” 
 
A modern HR payment solution must be compliant and easy to manage, particularly in a Europe that lacks a unified payment network. Platforms like HR Pay Solutions are designed to help employers navigate these issues by providing the operational infrastructure to handle multiple payment types and cross-border compliance.