A leader from a European banking alliance stated that Europe has an "urgent" need to lessen its reliance on U.S. payment giants such as Visa and Mastercard. Officials warned that if transatlantic relations deteriorate, the market dominance of these companies could be "weaponized."

Martina Weimert, CEO of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a coalition of 16 European banks and financial service companies, remarked, "We are heavily dependent on international payment solutions."

She added, "Yes, we have decent domestic assets, like national payment card systems... but we have no cross-border solution."

"If we believe independence is crucial, and everyone knows it's only a matter of time... we must act urgently," she stated.

According to European Central Bank data, Visa and Mastercard accounted for nearly two-thirds of card transactions in the eurozone in 2022. Thirteen member states had no local alternative to U.S. providers. Even in countries with domestic payment systems, their usage is declining.

As cash use decreases, European officials are increasingly concerned that U.S. payment companies' influence could be exploited as a tool if relations between the two sides seriously break down.

This is one of several key areas where officials worry the EU is overly dependent on U.S. firms. Belgium's cybersecurity head recently warned that Europe has "lost the internet" due to the dominance of American tech giants.

Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi cautioned in a recent speech, "Deep integration creates dependencies, which can be abused when partners are no longer all allies. Interdependence was once seen as a source of mutual restraint; it has now become a source of pressure and control."

EPI members include BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank. The initiative launched Wero in 2024, a European alternative to Apple Pay. The digital payment system currently claims 48.5 million users in Belgium, France, and Germany, with plans to expand to online and in-store payments by 2027.

Weimert noted that banks and merchants overall have "realized" the necessity of building a European cross-border payment network, but in the current "geopolitical context," the issue is "becoming mainstream."

The European Central Bank indicated that past private sector projects—including EPI's earlier plan for a competitive card system—"have shown difficulties in scaling up." A spokesperson pointed out that participants "struggled to agree on unified standards."

The European Central Bank is advancing the "digital euro" project, a public sector-led initiative aimed at enabling digital payments across the eurozone to strengthen the EU's monetary sovereignty.

Piero Cipollone, the European Central Bank Executive Board member responsible for the project, emphasized its importance last week: "As European citizens, we want to avoid Europe becoming overly dependent on payment systems that are not under our control."

The project faces division within European politics, with some banking institutions having lobbied against it, arguing it could undermine private sector efforts. A vote in the European Parliament later this year is expected to be closely contested.

Under the plan, by the time the European Central Bank begins issuing the digital euro in 2029, merchants in the eurozone will need to accept it for online and in-store payments. The underlying infrastructure will also be open to the private sector for developing related applications.

Aurore Lalucq, Chair of the European Parliament's Economic Committee and a supporter of the project, stated that the digital euro could "provide a foundational platform which, after integration, could potentially be used to build a system equivalent to a European Visa or Mastercard."

However, Weimert warned that if geopolitical tensions worsen, the digital euro might arrive too late.

"The issue with the digital euro is that it will take several more years to launch, perhaps after a U.S. presidential term under Donald Trump. So I think we are a bit short on time," she said.