this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2025
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 2 days ago (3 children)

HEY GUYS! YOULL NEVER GUESS. Portugal already has such a platform! Even Romania has started using it!

[–] [email protected] 70 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Everyone and their cousins have their own platform. That's the issue. No one wants to standardize on someone else's alternative so the incumbents reign supreme.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Is a federation of different platforms not possible? Warning: I know absolutely nothing about this.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

It's technically possible, guaranteed.

The problem is capitalism. Every company is too selfish, and every government too neoliberal, to build some at cost publicly-owned globally interoperable payment system.

Even now, the buy EU movement is largely just replacing US-oligarchy-owned services with EU-oligarchy-owned services. It's better than funding the American nazi party, but it's not a long term solution.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This is more going into the direction of feudalism than just capitalism. A million tiny realms and every one keen of keeping their population locked in and uninformed about the outside world. I think there's even a name for it: technofeudalism.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 days ago

It was bound to happen eventually.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Maybe the @[email protected] is in a good place to enforce a cross-border payment system.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Are you talking about MBway? I want to have the possibility to do it also we a card. Sometimes I don’t take my phone everywhere

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No. MBway is the Venmo equivalent, Multibanco is the Visa rival

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I’m really confused. I thought multibanco was just what we called the atm! Even went to my wallet to check my banco ctt card. Can ELI5 it to me?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

The commonly shared software by all ATMs in Portugal is very cool too though. Lots of additional features like charging your prepaid sim or even paying your taxes too.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well, it’s also the protocol! If your card has this symbol, it means it has that payment processor! Due to some weird language mixups it is both the atm and the protocol! Managed by SIBS, an interbank organisation

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Thanks, this is news to me!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

if it doesn't do card, it's not an alternative anyway

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I was wrong. It’s another thing

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

The crux is having credit and being able to put blocks on it - say for renting cars.

But I am all for a European alternative. Bring it