Thread

European payments groups join forces to challenge US dominance

63 points · 92 comments · vrganj

petcat · 1790944810 · focus · HN ↗
These all require Google or Apple devices both by the seller and the buyer. Wero explicitly does not even support non-Google Android devices.
I'm not sure that replacing Visa and MasterCard is really that big of a sovereignty move considering the pervasive dominance American mobile OS tech has. It's a much harder ecosystem to replace.
1. znnajdla · 1790945352 · focus · HN ↗
  You've got to start somewhere. You peel each layer off the dependency stack one at a time.
2. jeroenhd · 1790945354 · focus · HN ↗
  Updating an app to not require the Play Store is a lot easier than switching payment provider backend.
  Wero can fix the dependency on Google in a day, I don't think the dependency on Google is as bad as the broader dependency on Mastercard/Visa is.
  That said, I'd much prefer a European implementation of the same remote attestation APIs that Google uses to convince payment processors that phones can be trusted to manage finances.
  On iOS you don't really have a choice so until someone runs Linux on an iPhone, iPhone users are just screwed.
  1. M95D · 1790945520 · focus · HN ↗
    > to convince payment processors that phones can be trusted to manage finances
    Phones can NOT be trusted to manage finances. They should issue EU credit/debit cards instead.
  2. petcat · 1790945591 · focus · HN ↗
    > I'd much prefer a European implementation of the same remote attestation APIs that Google uses to convince payment processors that phones can be trusted to manage finances.
    You're basically talking about "government Android phone" since it is built into the chips on the device.
    I wonder how 330 million average Europeans will respond to not being able to use iPhones or Google Android phones anymore because they are instead being forced to use "government Android phone" for safety from USA.
    I think they'll actually just revolt against the government instead
    zb3 · 1790945842 · focus · HN ↗
    You mean Huawei? Europeans are ok with that, kernel being encrypted or not.
    vrganj · 1790945987 · focus · HN ↗
    Nobody's gonna revolt for Big Tech, man. Be real.
    petcat · 1790946751 · focus · HN ↗
    You underestimate how much people love their iPhones, and how much they will hate being forced to use "government Android phone" instead
    Not to mention that the EU seems to be incapable of actually building usable software, let alone a whole mobile OS ecosystem
    <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-microsoft-teams-alternative-bad-reviews-element-pro/" rel="nofollow">https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-microsoft-teams-alternati...
  3. zb3 · 1790945675 · focus · HN ↗
    Yep, they can allow GrapheneOS, right now. So let's pressure them into doing that.
3. drivingmenuts · 1790945448 · focus · HN ↗
  The hardware is harder to replace, but payment systems aren’t intrinsically tied to the operating systems, yet, except for encryption , which is handled on-device.
4. bilekas · 1790945457 · focus · HN ↗
  They don't though, unless I'm missing something stupid there is parity across all national options. And here for example the bank itself has Bancomat AND Visa as an option to pay by at a POS or online etc.
  This will allow me to use my card online with a merchant in Germany for example and use my Bancomat process (whatever the new interface is called) will be the gateway.
5. abcd_f · 1790945542 · focus · HN ↗
  You can't be serious. Getting rid of the need to pass purchases through these two American behemoths will be a huge step in the right direction.
  1. gib444 · 1790952282 · focus · HN ↗
    A step in an easily avoidable muddy puddle
  2. bediger4000 · 1790955333 · focus · HN ↗
    Heartily agree, even for Americans. I realize there's economies of scale and network effects, I'm not a libertarian, but the US electronic money situation is very bad. No pressure to innovate, be secure, be anonymous, and a small number of business people (out of touch CxOs) arbitrarily debank people and market segments.
6. sho_hn · 1790946575 · focus · HN ↗
  Once you have payment processing in-house, the decision of what devices to support is yours to make.
  If you don't, two lock-ins and network effects reinforce each other.
7. hvb2 · 1790960410 · focus · HN ↗
  > I'm not sure that replacing Visa and MasterCard is really that big of a sovereignty move considering the pervasive dominance American mobile OS tech has
  So 'having an apple or Google phone' is equivalent to you to 'have every individual payment processed by visa/mastercard'?
  Processing a payment means knowing who sent what to whom. I'm sure you don't care if I know what phone you have. But can I see every bank transaction you make? Every single purchase? No biggie, right?
  Aside from the fact that this is maybe the next dependency to drop.

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