Britain’s biggest banks to create alternative to Mastercard and Visa over Trump fears
Trump threat prompts UK banks to plan Mastercard and Visa alternative – how it will work
- Major UK banks are convening to discuss the creation of a national payments system, aiming to reduce reliance on US networks.
- This move is prompted by concerns over a US leader's potential capacity to disable systems like Visa and Mastercard, which process up to 95 per cent of UK card transactions.
- The initiative, supported by the government and involving the Bank of England, seeks to bolster the UK's financial resilience, with a projected implementation by 2030.
- Industry executives caution that a shutdown of US payment networks could severely disrupt the UK economy, citing the impact of US sanctions on Russia.
- While Visa and Mastercard are involved, some sources suggest the project may focus more on upgrading existing infrastructure to prevent service disruptions rather than establishing an entirely new system.
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