Europe Builds Pan-European Payment System to Reduce Dependence on Visa and Mastercard

Summary

The European Central Bank is pushing for a pan-European digital payment system to reduce dependence on non-European payment infrastructure like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Alipay. ECB President Christine Lagarde emphasized the urgency of this initiative, noting that virtually all European card and mobile payments currently run through foreign-controlled systems. In response, the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and EuroPA Alliance have signed a landmark agreement to build an interoperable payment network covering 130 million users across 13 countries, centered around the digital wallet Wero. This represents a significant shift in the $24 trillion European payments market toward greater financial sovereignty and reduced reliance on American and Chinese payment giants.