British bank chiefs will hold their first meeting to discuss creating a national alternative to US payment systems Visa and Mastercard.
According to The Guardian, the meeting is scheduled for February 19, sparked by growing concerns that the Trump administration could deny the UK access to these systems. The meeting will be chaired by Barclay's UK chief executive Wim Maru. The newspaper says the initiative is expected to be funded by City of London companies with government backing.
Talks about creating a British payments system have been going on for several years, but it is the US leader's recent threats to NATO allies over Greenland that "have heightened concerns that over-reliance on US companies could threaten payments in the UK - and the wider economy". According to the newspaper, Visa and Mastercard accounted for 95% of payments in the UK by 2025.
“If Visa and Mastercard were to be shut down, it would take us back to the 1950s. Of course we need a sovereign payments system,” said one finance director. The new system, The Guardian reports, could be operational before 2030.
EU leaders share similar concerns. According to the European Central Bank (ECB), Visa and Mastercard accounted for nearly two-thirds of all card transactions in the eurozone in 2022, while 13 countries had no national alternative to these payment services. As the Financial Times previously reported, given the decline in cash use, European officials are concerned that the community is dependent on American technologies that could be used as leverage in the event of a breakdown in relations.