this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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Imagine a trans-European payment processor that has no fees in Europe but pays for itself by charging a lower fee than Visa and Mastercard in non-European countries.
It would undermine foreign processors and give the EU a huge economic boost.
ETA: This would be another lever of soft power by offering zero fees to other countries.
It will, literally, print money.
(well not literally)
It will print influence and power projection instead
likely need some sort of floor for fees so it does not actually cost money but it could be fractions of a percent. To get us people they would really need to charge the same fees to vendors and then give practically it all back as cash back.
It could be a government owned corporation with a maximum fee structure determined by the EU Parliament.
The details need to be worked out but for sovereignty and power projection this feels like it has legs. And it would be a lot better than yet another privately owned processor.
They could further build goodwill by allowing you to buy porn games without getting debanked
Heck yeah. Base it Amsterdam’s red light district.
I mean... If I could get a credit card that only charged me like 6%, I don't care what country it's from, if jump on board! Speaking and an in debt United Statesian.
This sort of thing will be lobbied to death outside the EU and subsequently banned. Don't underestimate the leverage these companies have, they have a lot of money to burn to keep their position.