Visa/Mastercard alternatives?
Visa/Mastercard alternatives?
Ever thought about how strange it is that this duopoly handles such a large volume of transactions?
What are we doing to combat this?
My 2 cents
I don't think it is strange, I think a payment system is a natural monopoly of sorts. The customer experience is generally improved if we all agree on one system. I don't think you'd want a dozen providers connecting your electricity with wires all over the road, and I don't think we want dozens of payment systems with patchwork compatibility.
2-3 systems feels about right, for redundancy if there are technical issues on one, but limiting how many cards we use.
It's a remarkable achievement of our time that we can carry a single piece of plastic almost anywhere in the world and be connected to a vast payment system in any currency, and it's incredibly reliable.
But given it's a natural monopoly, it definitely needs regulation of pricing, and it also needs viable plans if shit hits the fan and international cooperation isn't on the menu anymore.
most other countries skipped debit and credit cards and moved straight to QR codes and digital wallets, you're unfortunately in one of the countries corporate America fooled into thinking an analog version of a digital wallet you get charged to own was efficient and practical.
the problem is solved, the uk and other lollygaggers have yet to catch up.
When you say digital wallet, I have Apple Pay but that’s just a layer between payment and my Mastercards
Is there something I could get that’s widely accepted?
In fact all payment portals I’ve seen demand a visa mastercard
"Is there something I could get that’s widely accepted?"
Probably not if you're in a country that didn't skip over cards.
In China, for example, there's one protocol, the QR at the prodce stand or the hotel tell you where to send or receive money from, you check the details, enter the password, the transfer executes.
So if you move to country that's moved past cards, then ecommerce is running on mobile digital wallets or bank accounts(older digital wallets) directly that you can join.
Debit & Credit cards have been around way longer than QR codes (I don't even get this, how is a QR code a payment method?) and digital wallets, so I assume those countries you're talking about were just using cash up until the technology became available. How were people paying for things online?
You don't get charged to own a debit or credit card, unless you specifically choose a product that has perks.
"I don’t even get this, how is a QR code a payment method?"
You have a digital wallet like a bank account. Scanning a QR code tells you where to send or receive money, if everything looks correct, you enter your account password and the transfer executes.
"I assume those countries you’re talking about were just using cash up until the technology became available"
Depends on the country, but epayments were around before QR codes, bank account to bank account directly via different platforms.
"You don’t get charged to own a debit or credit card, unless..."
Unless you do, correct. You also don't have a bicycle...unless you do.
Cash is king.
Cash has a king
The king has cash
Re your 1st question: no, not strange (welcomecto banks and capitslism 101!), but I agree that it would be better to have more alternatives.
There's not any quick and easy alternatives as all UK banks use Visa as far as I'm aware, but here's some thoughts/possibilities.
Shops, cafes, pubs etc: cash
You could possibly use a cash card account rather than current account with debit card. I have seen that they don't have Visa on them, but maybe you can only use them to withdraw cash so it may not be an option beyound cash in hand.
Pay for bills: direct debit, bank transfer or at the bank with cash.
Online shops etc: Paypal, Apple, Google pay etc (though not really a better option given the likely reason for wanting to avoid Visa & MC)
Other online payment services such as Stripe, Venmo and digital wallet providers exist but I'm not sure how all of these work and I wouldn't be surprised if some are owned by or subsidiaries of Visa/MC so look into them first. There's also Gocardless which appears to use the open banking system.
When you configure Apple Pay you are still proxying to visa Mastercard though right?
At the end of the day all plastic currency is hosted on Amex visa or MC
It’s crazy there’s no open banking
I think someone else said the same, so those don't appear to be an option.
Visa appears to be the most common in the UK as far as I have seen. It is disappointing, but I guess it works for the banks etc kinda like the national grid for electricity.
I looked a little into open banking and Money Savings Expert say "Technically, banks share your information securely via technology called application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs simply allow two providers to 'talk' to each other and pass the information you've given permission to share, such as your bank balance and regular payments. " which doesn't sound like Visa or others are involved to me.
There's also https://www.openbanking.org.uk/what-is-open-banking/ which says much the same with no mention of Visa etc.
Banks do have systems to transfer money that doesn't involve Visa etc. It looks to me like open banking uses this or is a new system.
I had a look at Stripe also, this appears to be for businesses with customer's requiring to use debit or credit cards so that's ruled out!
Online banks: Starling bank uses MC but Revolut doesn't say what system they use with their cards.
There's Skrill, an e-wallet company. You can transfer in using open banking and can pay online without a card but I suspect the number of businesses that facilitate payment from them may be low. You can get a physical or virtual card, but that uses MC.
I found reference to a number of other e-wallet compnies but you'll have to do you're own research from here!