Warnings about Europe’s dependence on the American “Visa” and “MasterCard”.

Europe is witnessing mounting warnings about the almost complete dominance of the American companies Visa and MasterCard over the payments market, amid fears that these networks will be used as a tool for economic and geopolitical pressure.

American dominance of European payments
The CEO of the European Payments Initiative, Martina Wimmert, warned of Europe’s heavy reliance on payment systems through the American companies Visa and MasterCard.

Europe has good domestic payment cards, but “we don’t have anything cross-border,” Weimert said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The newspaper explained that the American companies “Visa” and “MasterCard” control about two-thirds of transactions via bank cards in the euro area, according to European Central Bank data for the year 2022, while 13 European countries do not have an effective local alternative to Visa and MasterCard cards.

The ability to isolate Europe
On January 26, the British newspaper The Guardian published an editorial entitled “Europe’s sovereignty begins with payment systems,” in which it referred to the warning of French politician Aurore Lalloch that US President Donald Trump has the ability to isolate Europe from international payment systems.

The newspaper explained that the United States, through Visa and MasterCard, has the ability to isolate Europe financially if its policies conflict with Trump’s policies.

European alternatives: a step forward

Europe launched the digital payment wallet “Wero” in 2024 to serve about 48 million users in Germany, France and Belgium, with plans to expand by 2027.
But technical and political challenges remain, especially with regard to standardization among member states and divergent interests of banks.

The digital euro: an ambitious sovereign project

The European Central Bank seeks to launch a digital euro by 2029, becoming an accepted means of payment in stores and online, which could form an integrated European payment network to compete with Visa and MasterCard.

The battle for financial sovereignty is escalating

As Europe continues to depend on US networks, competition is no longer just a commercial issue, but a battle for supremacy in an era in which payment networks are turning into instruments of geopolitical influence and where controlling the movement of money becomes a new facet of global power.