Enfuce has published research showing that European consumers are increasingly concerned about political interference in payment systems, with strong support for greater European control over payments.
The survey of 3,000 consumers and 500 senior executives at payment providers across France, Germany, Italy, the Nordics and the UK points to growing unease about reliance on US-owned networks such as Visa and Mastercard. It also suggests the debate over payment sovereignty has moved beyond policymakers and into the mainstream.
The findings show that 62% of consumers believe geopolitical tensions could disrupt payments in their market. In comparison, 59% are concerned that the US government could instruct American-owned payment networks to restrict or stop payments. Concern was even higher among payment providers, with about 78% worried that political tensions could lead to restrictions.
Dependence on a small number of global operators also featured heavily in the responses. Six in ten consumers said it was a problem that so many payments are controlled by a small number of companies, and 67% said they would struggle to pay or be unable to pay without Visa or Mastercard.
Consumer priorities
Despite support for greater European control, the research indicates that political concerns alone are unlikely to reshape behaviour at the checkout. Just one in five consumers said they would choose a new payment system primarily because it was locally owned.
Instead, respondents said practical factors remained the main reasons to switch payment methods. Security was cited by 43% of consumers, acceptance by 40%, and privacy by 29%.
That creates a challenge for European alternatives seeking broader adoption. While 73% of consumers and 97% of payment providers said it was important for the UK and EU to have greater control over payment systems, customers still appeared more focused on reliability and trust than on ownership structures.
The findings also suggest awareness of the issue is already established. More than half of consumers said they had thought about the systems behind their everyday payments, and 56% said they were familiar with efforts to create alternatives to Visa and Mastercard.
Backing for Wero
Among payment providers, support for alternatives appears strong. Enfuce said 85% of providers have implemented or plan to implement Wero, the European payment method that has emerged as one of the main alternatives under discussion.
Three-quarters of payment providers said they believed local alternatives would be viable within a decade, while 66% said such an option could offer better value than existing global networks. At the same time, 67% said Europe could achieve payment sovereignty without replacing established international card schemes altogether.
That reflects a more mixed industry view of how sovereignty would work in practice. The data suggests many executives see room for a more locally controlled system alongside the current dominant networks, rather than through a complete break from them.
The research comes as Europe examines how far it should reduce dependence on foreign technology and financial infrastructure. In payments, the issue has gained prominence because card transactions and other consumer payments rely heavily on international networks headquartered outside Europe.
For fintech groups and payment infrastructure providers, that shift has created a broader strategic debate about resilience, market concentration and economic autonomy. The survey suggests those concerns now resonate with consumers as well as industry executives.
Around 58% of consumers said they were worried that reliable local alternatives would not be available if major payment networks were disrupted. That points to a growing perception that payment infrastructure is part of economic security rather than just a background utility.
“For decades, payments were designed around convenience and global scale. Now they are becoming a question of resilience, control and economic security. Consumers are starting to recognise that the systems moving money around the world are not politically neutral infrastructure. This is a rare opportunity to rethink what we want from payments – not just faster, but more transparent, resilient and more aligned with the values of consumers, businesses and society itself,” said Denise Johansson, Co-founder and CEO of Enfuce.
