UK banks plot Visa/Mastercard Alternative

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888145#Comment_81888145

Link would seem to agree with you, although may not be entirely impartial, being a business reliant on cash usage:

Almost seven-in-ten (69%) of the adult population said they used cash to pay for something in the past two weeks. Looking at the responses to this question over time, we can see this has been between 69%-73% since February 2022.

[…]

Only 8% report being entirely cashless today, up from 6% in late 2024.

https://www.link.co.uk/news/majority-of-uk-adults-still-value-cash-despite-digital-payments

A paywalled Times article is also quoted by Google AI as saying 5-9% are genuinely cashless:

over 90% of UK adults (around 48.6 million people) still use cash at least occasionally, with only about 5-9% of the population living "cashless" lives.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics though, so there's plenty of room on the spectrum between never using cash and always doing so, so I can imagine that the number of those who use cash rarely will be significantly higher, and hence (from the same unattributed AI):

Roughly 30% of UK adults (around 16.9 million) were living "largely cashless" lives in 2024, using cash only once a month or less

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888169#Comment_81888169

But they are now owned by a US company so they would have little choice but to do what their sole shareholder wants else they are all out of a job and the parent company puts yes people in to fill the slots.

It would require highly contentious legislation to create a firebreak such that the parent company cannot influence its subsidiary. The parent company may not be willing to operate in those circumstances.

It's not unique, Canada has special rules for insurance firms wanting to do reinsurance deals with its offshore parent/sister companies. Funds can't leave the country and have to be held in collateral accounts with RBC to protect Canadian policyholders but thats relatively minor in comparison to a proposal like this.

Ideally you'd look at something similar to the prior Visa arrangement where Europe was an independent company but had an irrevocable licence to operate in the Visa Inc network. As such it doesnt require global roll out but how interested any network would be in providing such a licence when they could just operate a network here themselves is another matter.

sausage_time

Reminds me of Access credit cards back in the day - my first credit card. "Your Flexible Friend."

https://www.accesscreditcard.info/

Became part of MasterCard in the 1990s.

wiseonesomeofthetime

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888419#Comment_81888419

Mine too ☺️

[Deleted User]

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888154#Comment_81888154

I think it’s most likely user error.

Rob5342

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888757#Comment_81888757

I agree, I pay with my phone for everything and virtually never have a problem. The only time I can remember is when the default card in Google wallet got switched to a card for spare account I had that didn't have any money in it.

masonic

It's worth remembering that Faster Payments are pretty reliable and we now have Open Banking to reduce the friction. Reduced buyer protection admittedly, but as a fall-back option in such an unlikely scenario it may be the most cost effective infrastructure to develop further. Whether it could cope with the required volumes in an emergency is another matter!

(I'm someone whose neither used cash nor a physical card at all in the last year or two, but I have written a couple of cheques - which would be another fallback option if the guarantee card was reintroduced)

GeoffTF

This video discusses the European plans:

Why Europe Is Creating an Alternative to Visa & Mastercard

A UK system should be able to join the European system, or we could just join the European system. The video mentions possible competition from the Digital Euro, but the Digital Euro is not likely to be relevant to us.

Altior

Why would a 'European' system have no risk?

France threatens to cut power to Jersey amid fishing row

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888852#Comment_81888852

It wouldn't, but having multiple systems reduces the potential impact of such issues. Even a UK system would have risk.