European Union aims for independence from US payment giants Visa and Mastercard

The EU is pushing a multi‑pronged strategy to cut its reliance on US card schemes like Visa and Mastercard, but full “independence” will take years and depends on successful rollout and adoption of new European rails and wallets.

Why the EU cares about this

• Around 47% of eurozone card payment value still runs over Visa and Mastercard, and most card/mobile payments use non‑EU infrastructure such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal or Alipay.

• ECB President Christine Lagarde and other officials now frame this as a sovereignty and geopolitical risk issue, not just a competition or pricing problem, fearing potential “weaponization” of US‑controlled payment rails.

• Concerns include control over consumer data, resilience of payment infrastructure, bargaining power in trade disputes, and interchange/processing fees for European merchants.

Main building blocks of “payments sovereignty”

1. Instant account‑to‑account rails (SEPA Instant + regulation)

   • An EU Instant Payment Regulation adopted in 2024 forces banks to offer euro instant payments at capped prices, making A2A usable as a mass‑market alternative to cards.

   • The idea is to route more retail payments directly between bank accounts over European infrastructure instead of via international card schemes.

2. European Payments Initiative (EPI) and Wero wallet

   • EPI is a bank‑backed scheme and wallet overlaying instant payment rails; its consumer‑facing brand is Wero.

   • Wero launched in 2024, has over 40 million registered users, and has processed several billion euros, starting with P2P and now rolling into e‑commerce and in‑store payments across core markets like Germany, France and Belgium.

   • A February 2026 interoperability push with EuroPA and other national wallets (Bizum, Bancomat Pay, MB Way, Vipps MobilePay) aims to knit together solutions covering roughly 130 million users and up to 60% of EU electronic payments in coming years.

3. Digital euro (public money in digital form)

   • The ECB and EU legislators have agreed on key design features of a digital euro, intended to ensure citizens can pay with central bank money in a digital environment.

   • A pilot could start around 2027 with first issuance not before about 2029, and merchant fees are expected to be capped below Visa/Mastercard levels.

4. Other layers (stablecoins, local card schemes, big‑tech alternatives)

   • A consortium of major European banks is also developing a euro‑denominated stablecoin under the MiCA framework, adding a blockchain layer under EU rules.​

   • Domestic schemes (e.g., France, Germany, Portugal, Spain) remain important, but fragmentation and lack of cross‑border interoperability are obstacles, hence the EPI/EuroPA tie‑ups.

How far along is “independence”?

• Policymakers and industry voices describe 2026 as a potential turning point, but acknowledge that Visa and Mastercard still dominate cross‑border and online commerce.

• Even with strong political backing, timelines are long: instant payments are here now, Wero is live and expanding, but a full digital euro and broad merchant acceptance across the single market will only emerge late this decade.

• Analysts warn that without rapid merchant onboarding, compelling consumer UX, and true cross‑border interoperability, Europe risks repeating past failed attempts at a pan‑EU card scheme.

Key implications

• For US schemes, Europe likely shifts from pure growth engine to more contested, regulated market, but not an overnight loss of relevance.

• For banks and PSPs, interchange and processing economics may change as A2A, Wero and later a digital euro undercut card fees and reduce dependency on US networks.