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Europe’s $24 Trillion Breakup With Visa and Mastercard Has Begun (europeanbusinessmagazine.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Lugh@futurology.today to c/futurology@futurology.today
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[-] riskable@programming.dev 145 points 3 days ago

YES! I used to work for the payment card industry. They're parasites! They serve no real purpose anymore in the age of the Internet. There's no reason for them to exist.

They're still charging transaction fees that were created in the time when everything had to be processed by hand.

Transaction fees should not exist!

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 71 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Imagine a trans-European payment processor that has no fees in Europe but pays for itself by charging a lower fee than Visa and Mastercard in non-European countries.

It would undermine foreign processors and give the EU a huge economic boost.

ETA: This would be another lever of soft power by offering zero fees to other countries.

[-] massive_bereavement@fedia.io 16 points 3 days ago

It will, literally, print money.

(well not literally)

[-] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

It will print influence and power projection instead

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago

This sort of thing will be lobbied to death outside the EU and subsequently banned. Don't underestimate the leverage these companies have, they have a lot of money to burn to keep their position.

[-] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

They could further build goodwill by allowing you to buy porn games without getting debanked

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Heck yeah. Base it Amsterdam’s red light district.

[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 7 points 3 days ago

likely need some sort of floor for fees so it does not actually cost money but it could be fractions of a percent. To get us people they would really need to charge the same fees to vendors and then give practically it all back as cash back.

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

It could be a government owned corporation with a maximum fee structure determined by the EU Parliament.

The details need to be worked out but for sovereignty and power projection this feels like it has legs. And it would be a lot better than yet another privately owned processor.

[-] Jayb151@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

I mean... If I could get a credit card that only charged me like 6%, I don't care what country it's from, if jump on board! Speaking and an in debt United Statesian.

[-] knightly@pawb.social 13 points 3 days ago

Same, the whole industry is nothing but a grift.

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 7 points 3 days ago

Middlemen all the way down.

[-] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 30 points 3 days ago

Ok, so how do we assist in the destruction of visa, mastercard, am.express, paypal, etc? I would be delighted to use something else.

[-] A_A@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

Wero is a private-sector initiative; the digital euro is public money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wero_(payment)

... stay tuned !

[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

~~My latest bank card isn't a Visa or MasterCard.~~

Pack it up fellas. My card is owned by MasterCard anyway. :(

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestro_(debit_card)

[-] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 8 points 3 days ago

Interesting! What is it?

[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Mastro.

Fuck ..... They are a subsidiary of MasterCard....

[-] ramble81@lemmy.zip 20 points 3 days ago

I mean isn’t the Maestro logo just a color variation of the MasterCard one? That should have been the biggest clue. And the name Maestro is just a play on Master.

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

The clues were always there....

[-] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago

Oh, of course! Is that not US? Where is it from?

[-] _Nico198X_@europe.pub 23 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Let's fucking GO! Moar! MOAR!

We! Don't! Need! The US!

[-] atro_city@fedia.io 23 points 3 days ago

Please do it faster. And make it possible to run on degoogled devices. Then we can decouple even more!

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 days ago

Can Canada join in?

[-] Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Is there an option for us folks in the US? I moved my bank from one of the major US banks to a local credit union but their cards are still backed by Visa.

[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 6 points 3 days ago

I so wish I could open a european bank account. I think they reason its not allowed is because they kowtow to us money laundering complaints. wish they would open up freedom accounts or something.

[-] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

The problem isn't necessarily the branding on the cards. The transaction networks that carry the data from point-of-sale (merchants), to transaction processing facilities, to banks and back, are the problem. That infrastructure is run by Visa, MC, etc.

They also have a defacto cartel, not only due to owning the networks, but by complying with the very complex credit card compliance regulations. Combined with vendor lock-in for merchants and others, this creates a space that makes it obscenely hard for anyone else to join in. Just ask the folks over at Discover about that.

[-] glitching@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

a) I mean, ok, that can potentially happen in the future, but does that make it fit in futurology? and b) chill with the champaigne poppings, you can bet your ass whatever comes up ain't gonna be to your advantage and finally c) "we gonna" instead of actually doing the thing is a negotiating tactic.

[-] Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 3 days ago

Creating a viable alternative to Visa and Mastercard requires “several billion euros” in investment, according to EPI’s own estimates. Low interchange fees under EU regulation make profitability difficult.

It remains to be seen how much political and economic power the European bourgeoise are actually willing to mobilise in order to cut dependence from the US. Can the liberals overcome the temptation for austerity and america worship? Every new project like this that comes along in europe has this giant asterisk attached to it.

[-] lastweakness@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Would be really cool to see it somehow integrated with India's RuPay, our alternative to Mastercard and Visa. RuPay has been pretty successful domestically lately, especially with support for UPI. International payments are supported via the Discover network but coverage isn't great because Discover isn't widely accepted.

It's been interesting to see just how far ahead India's consumer banking is. I can't think of any country that comes close. It's also interesting to see Europe moving in roughly the same direction. With the FTA and all, I hope these attempts at sovereignty turn into new ways to collaborate, rather than just isolate. Cooperation without dependence would be cool.

[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago

This is awesome news!

[-] Ildar@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I have a suggestion for a name for the system - "World"

this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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