{"id":4230,"date":"2026-02-25T11:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trusek.com\/home\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:50:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:50:03","slug":"sovereign-payment-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trusek.com\/home\/sovereign-payment-system\/","title":{"rendered":"What would happen if Visa and MasterCard were Turned off in the UK?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\"If Mastercard and Visa were turned off, it would send us back to the 1950s\u201d \u2026 \u201cwe need a sovereign payments system.\u201d \nQuote to the Guardian by a UK Banking Executive.<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"How\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

On 2nd February 2026 the Bank of England\u2019s Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said in a speech<\/a> at City & Financial Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit 2026:<\/span> \u201cCompetition from an extra payment option could bring … costs down. And in the context of a challenging and changing cyber and operational risk environment, it could provide a degree of extra resilience in the UK payments landscape, as an additional payment rail on the rare occasion of operational disruption to existing rails.<\/em><\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

On 19th February 2026, Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB stated<\/a> that<\/span> \u201c..\u00a0there is one domain where Europe\u2019s sovereignty is already under pressure: retail payments.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The role of cash \u2013 our sovereign means of payment \u2013 is declining as digitalisation accelerates. And almost two-thirds of card-based transactions in the euro area are carried out by non-European companies. Thirteen euro area countries depend entirely on international card schemes. And for those countries that have a domestic card scheme or national scheme for e-commerce payments, like Italy, data show that these schemes are losing market share across Europe.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

What does a Solution to the Sovereign Payment Rail Challenge Look Like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UK\u2019s Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB<\/a>) was established by the Bank of England in 2025 to design and deliver the UK’s next-generation retail payments infrastructure, and whilst the detailed design is not yet available, the following requirements have been identified as being particularly relevant (with links where available<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

A2A Core<\/a><\/p>\n

Real-Time Settlement<\/a><\/p>\n

API-first<\/a><\/p>\n

Node Architecture<\/a><\/p>\n

Compliance Engine<\/a><\/p>\n

FX \/ Multi-currency<\/a><\/p>\n

Data Security<\/a><\/p>\n

ISO 20022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

VRP<\/a><\/p>\n

Dispute \/ Chargeback<\/span><\/p>\n

AI Fraud<\/span><\/p>\n

Offline Capability<\/span><\/p>\n

Multi-Money System\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Sovereign Residency<\/span><\/p>\n

POS Multi-Rail<\/span><\/p>\n

Programmable Payments<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How can Trusek help address Independent Sovereign Payment Rail Requirements?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Trusek has developed a platform called the Unified Payment System<\/a> (UPS). The UPS was designed to enable regulated financial institutions to implement an Independent Payment Rail facility that processes payments through a stand-alone platform which supports a range of payment types and use cases.<\/span><\/p>\n

An internal Capability Alignment Summary comparing the Bank of England’s published Retail Payment Infrastructure<\/a> requirements to existing UPS capabilities indicates that approximately 65% of the Sovereign Infrastructure Requirement already aligns to developed technical capabilities<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and includes: –<\/span><\/p>\n