[dtquad]

There are alternatives to both inefficient government-run monopolies and US tech giant monopolies.

Even a small country like Denmark has multiple software and finance companies doing apps and software in the digital payments and banking field.

[Gud]

Why do you assume a government-run monopoly is inefficient?

You should try to take a train in Switzerland sometime. Its government run and I guarantee you will be mind blown over its efficiency.

[wtcactus]

You should take one in Portugal, where it’s also government run…

[Gud]

I made no assumption that government run organisations are necessarily efficient. The comment I responded to implied that government monopolies are inefficient by their nature, which I would argue against.

[Vinnl]

You would think, but is it in practice? In the Netherlands (and I believe many/most other countries), practically all non-cash payments are handled by either Visa or Mastercard. Technically a duopoly, but that's not a huge improvement either.

[dtquad]

Interesting and important question.

I know MobilePay by Danske Bank is one of the most popular payment apps and can be linked directly to a Danish bank account (probably using the Danish "Dankort" payment infrastructure) without Visa/Mastercard involvement.

Most Danish POS and e-commerce solutions support MobilePay and surprisingly the biggest international POS/e-commerce providers also support MobilePay:

https://docs.adyen.com/payment-methods/mobilepay/

https://stripe.com/en-dk/payment-method/mobilepay

https://help.shopify.com/da/manual/payments/shopify-payments...

Our independence from US-based Visa/Mastercard payment infrastructure is enabled by our decades-old "Dankort" digital payment infrastructure that was initially based on magnetic strip cards. Even today most people opt for a so-called "Visa/Dankort" chip card that domestically use the Danish Dankort payment infrastructure but can internationally be used as a Visa.