Most card payments in Europe today run through Visa and Mastercard. This has been a convenient standard in the long term, as merchants and customers get a widely accepted and highly reliable solution. However, it also means that the European payments space relies heavily on the infrastructure of two non-European companies.
This is precisely why the topic of payment autonomy is resurfacing in the European debate. According to Respekt, the European Central Bank warns that excessive dependence on foreign card networks can pose both strategic and operational risks. The most obvious argument is geopolitical: if a key part of the payment infrastructure is controlled by someone outside Europe, there is room for pressure, restrictions or unilateral rules.
But for entrepreneurs, another level is more important: competition. When the market has been built mainly on two global schemes for a long time, it is difficult to create stronger pressure for simplicity of prices, transparency and local alternatives. Once people start talking more seriously about a European digital wallet or other domestic tracks for electronic payments, it is not just a political gesture. It is also about who will determine the conditions, integrations and cost structure in the future.
In the short term, it is not realistic to expect a rapid departure from cards. Visa and Mastercard have a huge acceptance network and customers are used to them. A slower development is more likely: in addition to card payments, other European layers may emerge that will handle some of the online payments, digital identity or transfers between accounts. If this happens, merchants may eventually gain more options for how to accept payments and how to compare the price and features of individual solutions.
In practice, this means one thing today: do not choose a payment solution based only on what is currently the most popular. It is worth monitoring the flexibility offered by the provider, how easily it can add new payment methods and how transparently it works with prices. The payments market may change more than it seems in the coming years. Biznisa also follows the development of the digital Euro and national initiatives, for example through the Wero platform, to which companies and organizations are gradually joining.
What is Wero?
Wero is a new European digital wallet and payment system for instant payments between bank accounts (so-called A2A) in real time, usually within 10 seconds. The project, under the umbrella of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), allows you to send money using a phone number or QR code, replaces older systems such as iDEAL or Paylib and works 24/7.
