Euro digitale per tagliare i costi per le piccole e medie imprese e ridurre la dipendenza da fornitori di servizi di pagamento extraeuropei, afferma la Banca Centrale Europea

>*He also framed the project as an issue of strategic autonomy, noting that almost 70 per cent of card-initiated transactions in Europe are processed by non-European companies.*

I’m not really convinced that a digital Euro will make any difference here.
I’m also missing some specifics I guess!!

>*“As citizens we should be concerned about that,” he said, adding that the digital euro would help address this dependency.*

I am, but what can I do about it? I just get a card from my bank that’s mastercard or visa compliant (or something)

Meanwhile, somewhere else:

>*Why Europe is pushing out Visa and Mastercard. This move is not just economic—it’s strategic and geopolitical:*
*• Financial sovereignty: The EU wants to control the infrastructure through which trillions of euros flow.*
*• Fees and leverage: Retailers report fee hikes—card commissions rose 34% from 2018 to 2022.*
*• Data and jurisdiction: Europe wants to keep consumer data within the EU’s legal framework.*
*• Russia’s precedent: The post-2022 exit of Visa/MC from Russia showed the dangers of external reliance.EPI brings together more than 16 banks and fintech firms, including BNP Paribas, Worldline, and Nexi. Its core mission is to offer a scalable, pan-European alternative to global schemes.*

>[*https://todapay.com/blog/east-coast-vs-the-european-union-what-the-push-to-replace-visa-and-mastercard-means-for-the-payments-market*](https://todapay.com/blog/east-coast-vs-the-european-union-what-the-push-to-replace-visa-and-mastercard-means-for-the-payments-market)

oooh, that starts to make some sense.

So what amount are we talking about? Again, some specifics!
Found this:

>*Americans charged $6.58 trillion to their Visa cards in 2024, making it the largest card processor in the United States.* 
*Consumers charged $2.78 trillion to Mastercards, making it the nation’s second-most-used charge card.*
*U.S. Consumers charged $1.19 trillion to their American Express brand cards.* 
*American consumers charged $212 billion to their Discover cards.*
*Credit card user penetration in the U.S. is 81%; 216.3 million Americans have a credit card account in their name.*
[*https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/credit-card-market-share-statistics/*](https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/credit-card-market-share-statistics/)

That’s inside the US, so let’s say the EU is.. what? The same, half, a quarter?
Still a lot…

But why does it need to be a digital Euro?
Can’t we just “simply” ‘change the card’ or something…
I’m a simple citizen and not an expert, but I’d like a bit more story, specifics, and an explanation on this instead of techno-hype about additional ‘benefits’ no one seems to ask for.

It seems I’m now forced in using a phone “with wallet” for all my payments. No matter what people say or how many people are using it, I’m not trusting that thing with my money. Even an E/OS needs Google (=American ties) at one point. Also, why should *I* want to pay quickly as advertised for apps, not that I pay slow with a card and often actually faster…. <ramble>

–my current state of being

Can we just get on with it?

I just don’t understand why they don’t do something that is familiar to your averge joe and make some new bank card like Euro card or whatever would it be called that is under EU. Every bank in EU can offer it, people wold know how it works and it would be alternative to Visa or MasterCard.

Digital currency is a one way ticket to slavery. Wake up people.