Europe Asia News

UK banking executives will hold their first meeting to create a national alternative to Visa and Mastercard amid growing concerns over Donald Trump’s ability to shut down U.S.-owned payment systems.

The meeting, chaired by Barclays UK CEO Vim Maru, will take place this Thursday and will bring together a group of financiers prepared to cover the costs of a new payments company to ensure the UK economy can continue functioning if disruptions arise.

This government-backed initiative has been discussed for years. However, Trump’s recent threats toward NATO allies over Greenland have heightened concerns that excessive reliance on U.S. companies could put the UK’s payments system—and the broader economy—at risk.

According to a 2025 report by the UK Payment Systems Regulator, approximately 95 percent of card transactions in the UK are processed using Mastercard and Visa payment systems. As cash usage continues to decline nationwide, this dominance has become even more significant.

An executive familiar with the project told The Guardian, “If Mastercard and Visa were shut down, it would take us back to the 1950s.” At that time, cards did not dominate the UK economy and businesses were entirely dependent on cash. “Of course, we need a sovereign payment system,” the executive added.

The potential disruption could be enormous. In Russia, where businesses relied on Visa and Mastercard for 60 percent of payments, U.S. sanctions that forced the companies to suspend their services left ordinary people without access to funds and unable to purchase goods.

Similar concerns are being voiced in the EU, where politicians are increasingly advocating for the creation of local networks that cannot be arbitrarily shut down by foreign powers. Aurore Lalucq, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, issued a stark warning last month about the risks of relying on U.S. companies for such a critical service, and her remarks went viral.

Lalucq said, “Visa, Mastercard… the urgent issue is our payment system. Trump can cut everything. The rest is secondary. I urgently call on the Commission to organize a European Airbus for payment systems: you cannot say you were not warned.”

The new payment system is expected to become operational by 2030.

Mastercard and Visa stated that they remain committed to the UK and welcome competition.

Visa said this includes providing consumers and businesses with “access to innovative, secure digital payments.”