[janpeuker]

Europe already has plenty of alternative card systems e.g. France's Cartes Bancaires (CB) and ironically Germany just last year turned it's Girocard/Maestro system off in favour of Visa/Mastercard; the problem is the banks in individual countries in Europe are not willing to give up their control in favour of a compatible standard.

[hermanzegerman]

Germany didn't turn off Girocard that's just fake News. I literally paid yesterday using Girocard.

It also works with some big German retailers outside of Germany (like with Billa in Austria which is a subsidiary of Rewe Group)

Maestro and Visa just stopped offering Maestro/V-Pay so they can charge the higher fees vor Visa/MasterCard. The only thing that changed is the Co-Badge on most Girocards

[bilekas]

> the problem is the banks in individual countries in Europe are not willing to give up their control in favour of a compatible standard

Well this is flat out wrong. Every countries banking system pays fees for processing visa and MasterCard. When there is a viable alternative in place with less fees, the bank like any money making enterprise will take it. Framing it as "countries" blocking it demonstrates you either have an agenda against EU or you're not sure how the EU works.