Does the European Union forbid credit cards from the US?
Viral posts on social media argue that the EU wants to get rid of US payment cards, such as Visa and Mastercard, as well as foreign electronic payment platforms such as Paypal and Alipay.
Some reports on X report, in fact, that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has announced that he is planning to replace payment systems with European alternatives.
And a post in the Dutch argues that Lagarde wants to replace these payment methods with the upcoming digital euro of the ECB.
What exactly did Lagarde said about US credit cards?
However, Lagarde’s words have been … removed from the frame suspension. A Google search leads us to an interview with the Irish NewStalk radio station on April 2, which warned that Europe should stop depending on American and Chinese technology.
Source: Euronews
At one point in her interview, Christine Lagarde emphasizes the importance of being able to take control of its own digital payments.
« When you think about it right now, many of our digital payments-e-commerce, peer-to-peer, or using your card or phone-are always based on non-European infrastructure, » he said.
And he added that « whether you are using a card or phone, usually passes through Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Alipay … where do they all come from? Well, either from the US or from China, « to emphasize that » the whole infrastructure mechanism that allows payment – credit and debit – is not a European solution « .
« This is the point where I think we need to reduce this vulnerability and ensure that there is a European bid that is available, for any event. You never know, « the ECB chief said.
Seeks a European alternative to the ECB
Therefore, in its words in the right context, Lagarde has made it clear that it wants to have a European alternative alongside these US and Chinese payment methods – but did not mention the EU’s exemption of them.
European equivalents of these payment platforms have already been released, after all. Wero, for example, is a digital wallet that allows customers to only transfer money with a phone number, gradually offering them the ability to send money to other users in Europe.
It emerged as a result of the European Payment Initiative, a network of European banks created in 2021, to provide a single digital payment service for all businesses and citizens, as Euronews explains.
Wero is currently available in Belgium, France and Germany, and other EU countries are expected to follow.
Denial of Social claims on US payment cards
Eurobify also addressed the European Central Bank (ECB), which denied these online claims for US credit cards.
« The ECB is not in favor of abandoning payment systems provided by companies such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal or Alipay, » he said in a statement sent by email.
« On the contrary, we support a diverse and competitive payment landscape, which includes both private and public choices, » he said, adding that « a digital euro will serve as an additional choice for consumers and businesses, not as a replacement, but thereby complementing cash and existing digital methods. »
Note that Euroverify has in the past dismantled various misleading allegations related to digital euro and the supposed removal of cash in Europe, including false « news » that Spain is unloading 50 euros, that the Scandinavian countries prohibit digital transactions, To help fight climate change.
