IIRC EU has tried for decades to facilitate launching a competitive international card system as alternative to US-run Visa & Mastercard, but failed. It definit

IIRC EU has tried for decades to facilitate launching a competitive international card system as alternative to US-run Visa & Mastercard, but failed. It definitely can lead to technological advancement, however, it often can not build an organization that's competitive enough that people would actually choose use it unless forced or motivated by subsidies.