Britain’s biggest banks are moving to create a domestic payments network that could break the grip Visa and Mastercard hold over UK card transactions. The initiative, temporarily called “DeliveryCo,” has been discussed for years but gained sharp urgency after Donald Trump’s threats against NATO allies raised fears about dependence on American financial infrastructure. With the first formal meeting set for this week, the project marks the most concrete step yet toward a UK-controlled alternative to the two US card giants.
Why Trump’s Threats Accelerated a Years-Old Plan
The idea of building a British payments system outside the Visa-Mastercard duopoly is not new. Banking executives have quietly explored it for years, according to reporting on the initiative. But the conversations stayed theoretical, lacking the political momentum needed to move from boardroom speculation to organizational action. What changed is the geopolitical climate. Trump’s recent threats against NATO allies over Greenland have amplified concerns about over-reliance on US companies, forcing UK financial leaders to confront a scenario in which critical payment rails could be disrupted or weaponized at the discretion of a foreign power.
That fear is not abstract. Visa and Mastercard process the vast majority of UK card payments, and both are headquartered in the United States. If Washington ever chose to restrict access to those networks, whether through sanctions, executive orders, or trade pressure, British consumers and businesses would face immediate disruption. The Trump administration’s willingness to use economic coercion against allies has made that possibility feel less like a thought experiment and more like a planning scenario. For UK bank leaders, the calculation has shifted: the perceived risk of doing nothing now outweighs the cost and complexity of building something new, even if a homegrown network will take years to reach scale.
DeliveryCo Takes Shape With City Backing
Barclays UK chief executive Vim Maru is set to chair the first meeting of the initiative, scheduled for the Thursday following 16 February. The gathering will bring together senior figures from major lenders, including Santander UK and other large banks, to begin structuring the new payments company. The project is City-funded, meaning the participating financial institutions will bear the costs of establishing the network rather than relying on direct government spending. At the same time, the initiative carries government backing, suggesting that ministers and regulators view a domestic alternative as strategically important even if they are not directly underwriting it.
The structure matters because it addresses one of the main reasons past efforts stalled. Building a payments network from scratch requires enormous upfront investment in technology, fraud prevention, merchant onboarding, and interoperability with existing systems. By pooling resources across several of Britain’s largest banks and aligning that effort with political support, DeliveryCo’s backers are trying to clear the coordination problem that has kept the UK tethered to American networks. Whether this model can actually produce a system that merchants and consumers adopt at scale is an open question, but the commitment of named institutions, a chair, and a specific meeting date distinguishes this effort from earlier, vaguer proposals that never left the drawing board.
Regulatory Pressure Adds a Second Front
The banks are not acting in a vacuum. The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator has separately taken action against Visa and Mastercard over their dominance in card payments and merchant fee practices. Regulators have flagged the lack of meaningful competition in the market, where the two US networks handle nearly all consumer card transactions and set interchange and scheme fees that are ultimately passed on to shoppers through higher prices. By investigating and challenging that dominance, the watchdog is signalling that structural change in how card payments work is not just desirable but necessary, creating a more favourable backdrop for any credible alternative that can be brought to market.
This regulatory scrutiny gives DeliveryCo a dual rationale: national security and consumer protection. If a domestic network can offer lower fees to merchants and more predictable governance to policymakers, it could attract support beyond the banks that are building it. Yet regulators will also be wary of simply swapping one concentrated system for another. Any new scheme will have to demonstrate openness to competition and clear rules around access for smaller lenders and fintechs. That tension—between building a robust national champion and avoiding a new monopoly—will shape how the project is scrutinised in the months ahead.
Behind the scenes, the political and media environment is also nudging banks toward more ambitious long-term planning. British institutions have been reminded, through extensive coverage and reader engagement, that public trust in financial infrastructure depends on perceived independence as well as reliability.
That relationship between institutions and the public is likely to influence how DeliveryCo is received. Banks know that any attempt to reshape the payments landscape will be closely watched by consumers who are increasingly sensitive to data security, fees, and the political implications of financial infrastructure.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
Grant Mercer covers market dynamics, business trends, and the economic forces driving growth across industries. His analysis connects macro movements with real-world implications for investors, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Through his work at The Daily Overview, Grant helps readers understand how markets function and where opportunities may emerge.
