In France, the CB network is reportedly striving to become the next payment sovereignty frontier as officials warn against overreliance on foreign payment methods, such as Visa and Mastercard.
According to the April 19 FT report, France’s payment network CB (short for Cartes Bancaires) is preparing to lead the European fight against the dominance of global but foreign payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard in light of the shifting geopolitical landscape and increased calls for self-reliance in economic and payment spheres.
CB is an established national card payment system with several decades of operational experience. Founded in 1980, CB is the default payment rail behind most bank cards in France. At the same time, the network has been gradually losing its relevance amidst the growing expansion of its competitors from abroad. Visa and Mastercard have been jointly responsible for about 25%-40% transactions in France, though only five years ago, CB accounted for 90% of all domestic payments.
For years, this market share slide didn’t matter much. In fact, about 95% of French cards are actually co-badged, with CB for domestic payments and Visa/Mastercard for international ones. French President Emmanuel Macron himself has supported CB’s co-badging program, calling the French payments network the “last kilometer of our economic sovereignty,” said the report.
However, today, EU representatives share growing concerns that overreliance on American payment rails, such as Visa and Mastercard (less often Amex), can be used as a political and economic leverage against the region. “Current tensions with the U.S. under Donald Trump have underscored the idea that some services could be cut off or subject to conditions,” noted Philippe Laulanie, CB’s director general.
Since CB has begun to reverse a long-term market share decline trend recently, and managed to remain the core domestic infrastructure despite American rivals luring banks with exclusive deals and fintech incentives, the network may become one of the key elements of the European payment sovereignty push. At present, CB reportedly has around 30 candidates to join its network.
Nevertheless, its co-badging system, letting French bank cards run both on international and local networks, is not yet a full-scale alternative to Visa and Mastercard. To achieve that goal, there must be an independent cross-border card payment system that requires no foreign backups. Some believe the ECB’s digital euro CBDC can fill the gap for pan-European cross-border payments, but its opponents believe blockchain-based currency can hinder private sector payment companies.
