UK banks plot Visa/Mastercard Alternative

[Deleted User]

Interesting article in the Guardian,

UK bank bosses will hold their first meeting to establish a national alternative to Visa and Mastercard, amid growing fears over Donald Trump’s ability to turn off US-owned payment systems.

The meeting, chaired by Barclays’ UK chief executive, Vim Maru, will take place this Thursday and bring together a group of City funders that will front the costs of a new payments company to keep the UK economy running if problems were to occur.

The City-funded, but government-backed, initiative has been under discussion for years. However, Trump’s recent threats against Nato allies over Greenland have amplified concerns that an over-reliance on US companies could put UK payments – and the wider economy – at risk.

About 95% of UK card transactions are made using payment systems owned by Mastercard and Visa, according to a 2025 report by the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator. That dominance has become far more relevant as cash use across the country continues to decline.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/16/uk-bank-bosses-plan-visa-mastercard-alternative

It appears visa and Mastercard may play a part, unlike the EU plans. I really wonder how this would work in practice. Would we be issued new cards etc or would it be all virtual?

M25

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/16/uk-bank-bosses-plan-visa-mastercard-alternative

That's interesting.

Didn't we have that decades ago? I recall the Switch logo on my bank card.

M25

How do you post a link that actually works ie is clickable? The new forum board software is horrible (it was just terrible before).

noh

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/16/uk-bank-bosses-plan-visa-mastercard-alternative

MattMattMattUK

It is not really a plot…

There are a few models available

A) a new card provider entirely, a "BritCard" or "EuroCard"

B) a new processing network that using the existing card data independently.

C) Regulatory requirements to split the network off into a UK/European zone which operates connected with, but independent from the US zone. With this being operated by a UK/European resident business, which could still be owned but operationally independent from the American companies.

D) A combination of the above.

noh

Hope this helps.

huw01

In Sweden everyone uses Swish to pay, pay each other person to person and to pay in cafe's shops etc. India developed UPI, everyone paying by scanning a QR code to pay directly.

We had PayM which was like a really simple version of linking your bank account to your mobile number, it was instant and worked well, the only problem is no one used it.

Having a duopoly isn't healthy, looking at how these systems work in other countries shows they are popular.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655719/uk-banks-plan-to-set-up-visa-and-mastercard-alternative

Visa Europe was independent from Visa Inc from 2008 until 2016 when the US company bought out but they had a perpetual and irrevocable licence from Visa Inc. Visa has a complex history but before 2008 it was a group of incorporated and unincorporated entities who were technically unrelated but had common members/shareholders

WillPS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81887972#Comment_81887972

We had Switch/Solo and before that Access before any of these. Consumer friction, particularly when trying to use overseas, drove their eventual demise. Who remembers being presented with the weird choice of 'SwitchMaestro/MaestroIntl' in the early days of Chip + PIN?

I suspect any scheme now would have to run side-by-side with Visa/Mastercard to have any chance of working, and that being the case I'm not sure consumers or Visa/Mastercard will really care. It'll be a very expensive bit of redundancy if it happens.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81887972#Comment_81887972

Being in the broader FS family LinkedIn frequently recommends conversations from Payments people, a lot are highly impressed with the Payconiq system in Belgium that sounds similar with dynamic QR codes that avoid the need for card networks, account details etc.

Personally dont really get it but they all geek out over it.

[Deleted User]

I quite like the idea of paying with QR codes. I saw in used in China and it seems more convenient once set up. One wonders if this were to happen, visa and mastercard would slowly fall away as would payment using plastic cards.