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Bizum Pay: Europe's bid for monetary sovereignty against Visa and Mastercard

The European Union and the European Central Bank are promoting European payment solutions to reduce dependence on US providers.

Generic image of digital money flows and European symbols.
IA

Generic image of digital money flows and European symbols.

The European Union and the European Central Bank are driving Bizum Pay as a key strategy to develop a payment infrastructure independent of US providers like Visa and Mastercard, thereby seeking monetary sovereignty.

The European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB) are actively working to reduce dependence on US payment systems, such as Visa and Mastercard. The initiative aims to strengthen European monetary sovereignty through the development of its own payment solutions, like Bizum Pay.
Since 2018, following a suggestion by German Minister Heiko Maas, progress has been made in creating independent European payment channels. The European Commission has taken steps to launch an infrastructure that reduces reliance on US companies, which hold a monopoly in the sector.
In 2020, a consortium of 16 European banks, with the backing of the ECB, established the ‘European Payments Initiative’ with the goal of creating a unified payment solution. In parallel, the 'European Payments Alliance' (EuroPA), which includes Bizum, has worked on the interoperability of instant mobile payments, aligning with the digital euro project.
ECB sources confirm their support for Bizum Pay, viewing it as a key element for continental competitiveness. The digital euro will act as a catalyst for solutions like Bizum or Wero (already present in Germany, France, and Belgium) to grow and innovate, offering a free pan-European infrastructure.
Currently, approximately two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area are processed through non-European companies, representing a structural vulnerability. A report by the European Parliament indicates that this dependence on external payment networks poses a risk to the Union's financial sovereignty.
The reliance on cloud technology providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and Google Cloud, also presents a layer of vulnerability, as a significant portion of European banks' digital infrastructure is hosted on these US services, limiting complete independence.
The Bank of Spain has also warned about this dependency, citing recent incidents with technology providers that reinforce the need to reduce the system's vulnerability. Indigenous payment initiatives like Bizum are crucial for ensuring 'monetary sovereignty', according to the ECB.

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