Social media has been ablaze with excitement over Christine Lagarde's spectacular yet false announcement. According to posts circulating widely on X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms, the president of the European Central Bank has declared that she wants to get rid of American payment giants like Visa and Mastercard, as well as online solutions like PayPal and Alipay. Some messages even go so far as to claim that she wants to replace them with the digital euro.
No ban, but more independence
These explosive claims are actually based on a distortion of comments made by Christine Lagarde during an interview with Irish radio station Newstalk on April 2. These statements were actually taken out of context to fuel a controversy that should not exist.
In this interview, Christine Lagarde did indeed address the issue of European dependence on non-European payment technologies. "For now, a large part of our digital payments—e-commerce, peer-to-peer, card or phone use—still rely on non-European infrastructure," she explained on air.
The ECB president continued her analysis by detailing the situation: "Whether you use a card or a phone, you generally go through Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Alipay? Where do all these cards come from? Well, either the United States or China. And the entire infrastructure mechanism that enables payment, credit and debit, is not a European solution."
Far from announcing any ban, Christine Lagarde simply expressed the wish to see European alternatives emerge. "That's why I think we need to reduce this vulnerability and make sure that a European offering is available, just in case. You never know," she added cautiously.
There are already concrete European initiatives. Wero, a digital wallet developed as part of the European Payments Initiative, allows users to transfer money simply with a phone number. This service, born from a network of European banks created in 2021, currently operates in Belgium, France, and Germany, with a planned expansion to other European countries.
The European Central Bank itself clarified its position on these rumors to EuroNews. "The ECB does not advocate abandoning payment systems provided by companies such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, or Alipay," the institution stated in an official statement. Instead, it supports "a diverse and competitive payment landscape that includes both private and public options." Regarding the digital euro, the ECB maintains that it "would be an additional choice for consumers and businesses, not a replacement, complementing existing cash and digital payment methods." This clarification puts an end to speculation about an otherwise unrealistic desire to eliminate existing payment solutions.
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