>It doesn't help that cheap ubiquitous wires would outright destroy MC/Visa, who effectively get to tax all consumer spending by being the only system with live

>It doesn't help that cheap ubiquitous wires would outright destroy MC/Visa, who effectively get to tax all consumer spending by being the only system with live/online transaction processing for authorizations. Cheap (actually: free) ubiquitous wires are a reality in the UK as described or in the Euro zone, and I think MC/Visa do just fine there.