Why Europe Is Creating an Alternative to Visa & Mastercard

[Dr Strangelove]

[al_keda]

The US has been the instrument of it's own demise. Even if he's out of office in 3 years, everyone that voted for him remains.

Time to be our own best customers. They are over.

[Dr Strangelove]

This and the EU openly talking about selling EU debt will mean a shift globally as hedge funds flee to safer markets.

[al_keda]

China is selling US debt. That will further devalue the US Dollar.

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

Pay to bank rather than pay to card.

This refers to account‑to‑account (A2A) payments—money moves directly from your bank to the merchant’s bank.
Examples include:
- SEPA Credit Transfer / SEPA Instant (EU-wide)
- iDEAL (Netherlands)
- Swish (Sweden)
- Bizum (Spain)
- Giropay (Germany)
These run on SEPA rails and often settle in seconds. A2A payments made up 17% of European e‑commerce in 2024 and are expected to exceed €850 billion by 2026

Why Europe is shifting from card → bank
1. Lower cost
A2A payments typically cost merchants 30–70% less than card processing because they bypass card networks.
2. Instant settlement
SEPA Instant moves up to €100K in under 10 seconds across the EU.
3. Regulatory push
PSD2 and open banking require banks to open APIs, making pay‑by‑bank easy and secure.
4. National champions dominate locally
- iDEAL: 70% of Dutch e‑commerce
- Swish: used by 85% of Swedish adults
- Bizum: 30M+ users in Spain
5. Consumer trust
In countries like Germany and the Netherlands, people historically prefer bank transfers over cards.