The EU wants to abandon Visa, Mastercard, PayPay and Alipay
8 April 09:26
The European Union should develop its own independent payment infrastructure to reduce dependence on the US and Chinese giants. This was stated by the head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, in an interview with Newstalk, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
Lagarde called on the European Union to develop its own payment system to reduce dependence on international platforms such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal from the United States and Alipay from China.
“When you pay online, by card or by phone, you are always relying on non-European infrastructure. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Alipay – where do they come from? Either from the United States or China. The entire infrastructure that provides payments is not European,” Lagarde said.
She also acknowledged that these companies operate in accordance with European regulations. However, she emphasized: Brussels still “needs to make sure that there is a European alternative.”
Not only financial but also security issues
The ECB President emphasized that payment independence is not only a matter of money, but also a matter of digital security, economic stability, and geopolitical influence. She called for the creation of a European alternative that would work on the basis of local infrastructure.
In addition, Lagarde called for strengthening the internal European capital market and creating a single supervisory authority and removing barriers to economic growth.
What is needed to create a European payment system
So far, the idea of creating its own payment system remains at the level of proposals. To implement it, the European Union will have to build an infrastructure from scratch that can compete with global giants. This includes:
- Developing a technological base for transaction processing.
- Ensuring security and compliance with standards.
- Integration with the banking systems of EU member states.
