Europe Moves to Break Free from Visa and Mastercard's $24 Trillion Grip
European institutions are taking concrete steps to reduce their reliance on Visa and Mastercard, the two American companies that dominate the continent's $24 trillion payment processing market. The move represents one of the most significant challenges to the duopoly's global dominance in decades.
The effort reflects broader European concerns about sovereignty over critical financial infrastructure and the fees extracted by foreign payment networks. The story has generated significant discussion, drawing over 600 comments on Hacker News, highlighting the widespread interest in how this shift could reshape the global payments landscape and what alternatives Europe is building.
The effort reflects broader European concerns about sovereignty over critical financial infrastructure and the fees extracted by foreign payment networks. The story has generated significant discussion, drawing over 600 comments on Hacker News, highlighting the widespread interest in how this shift could reshape the global payments landscape and what alternatives Europe is building.