Mastercard and Visa May Face More Competition in Europe While the CCCA Gains Support in the U.S.

While the U.S. and Europe race to impose tariffs that threaten to disrupt international trade, groups in both countries mull strategies to increase competition among payment networks.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has asked the EU to develop its own payment platform to compete with foreign payment systems, including Mastercard and Visa. The two card networks have a heavy presence in European payment processing. In the UK, Visa and Mastercard process 95% of all credit and debit card payments.

Officials from the ECB have expressed that Europe must “focus on developing its own payment system to secure financial sovereignty.”

The ECB believes that Europe should strive to decrease its dependence on American and Chinese payment platforms, which aligns with the EU’s more comprehensive plans to develop an efficient and secure capital market for member states. 

Followers of payments developments in the U.S. will note that the European Central Bank’s request has parallels to an initiative spearheaded by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Durbin plans to unveil a new version of his Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) in 2025.

The 2023 version of the CCCA aimed to require large credit card issuing financial institutions — defined as having assets of more than $100 billion — “to enable at least two credit card networks to be used on their credit cards instead of just one, and at least one of those networks must be a network other than the Visa/Mastercard duopoly.”

Durbin hasn’t released a new version of the Credit Card Competition Act in 2025 yet, but that hasn’t stopped him from visiting with industry participants in an effort to gain support for the act. Last week, Durbin met with both the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation.

Durbin has said he believes the CCCA will save consumers and merchants upward of $15 billion annually, citing that fees to Visa and Mastercard can be one of a business’s most significant operating costs.

Speaking at the National Restaurant Association Conference, Durbin urged business owners to tell Congress how credit card fees harm their businesses.

“I challenge you to tell your stories,” Durbin said. “Tell your representative how swipe fees take up a huge portion of your budget, how they prevent you from lowering prices, and how you are not able to hire additional employees.”

Durbin told members of the National Retail Federation that the CCCA may be the solution that helps businesses overcome the struggles that a prolonged trade war could bring.

“As President Trump’s tariffs cause uncertainty for Illinois business owners, consumers, and workers, I will continue to push back against harmful economic policies coming from the White House, including continuing to advocate for my Credit Card Competition Act,” Durbin told the group, according to a press release.

The efforts to increase competition for Mastercard and Visa in the U.S. and Europe face significant hurdles. Any new systems and processes implemented to accommodate another network must not come at the expense of payment security.

I’ll be keeping an eye on developments on both sides of the pond as it relates to plans to increase competition among card networks. Though neither effort appears headed for an imminent conclusion, it’s not too early for merchants and credit card companies to plan how they’ll comply with the possible new regulations.