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Comment by Ninn | Hacker News Reader

While it is true that we have more options, I do not agree that non credit card mobile payment options are a primary payment. These still lack a lot of usability improvement in comparison to the now widespread mobile credit cards supported by almost all banks too. So I still recognise visa and their support for Apple Pay helps maintain this power.

Heres to hoping that Apple Pay (and Android) will open up directly to banks or solutions such as Mobile Pay, which bridges to direct bank transfers for member banks and then utilise credit cards as a backup for unsupported banks.

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Of course Visa and Mastercard still have a big role, especially in the brick & mortar. But when looking at e-commerce, the share of card payments is 40%. I don't think it is very relevant to discuss "duopoly" and say that they have the power to censor user content - because they don't. If they ban you, you still have many other options. AFAIK the point in the article was that we should break the credit card duopoly because they have too much power. I don't think that is the case here.

Do you think that the credit card companies having too much power is a big problem in the Nordics?

I'm not sure about the other Nordics countries, but Denmark still have its own card solution "Dankort". It's not nearly as popular as it once was, and I would say that most cards are now dual-branded as VISA/Dankort, where the card will work as a VISA card, if Dankort isn't supported.

Our politicians and banks probably don't see it this way, but having a local alternative can help keep MasterCard and VISA in check. If they become to expensive or unreasonable most people already have a competitor in their wallet, one for whom fees are strictly controlled.

In Sweden, you can pay in most online stores (that I visit) with Klarna. They use direct back transfers.

Klarna is a bank that is connected to the Visa network. So, inherently, it is bound by the same rules as any other bank. So, in the context of this thread, they are not a competitor to Visa/MasterCard.

That's correct only in NA, where Klarna issues virtual credit cards and transactions happen via card tracks. In EU, or at least the Nordics, the transactions are bank-to-bank and there is no virtual card. That means they are a direct competitor.

In Sweden they issue regular credit cards (my friend has one). Also, AFAIK, in Nordics they offer virtual card payments to merchants who don't integrate with them directly.

Sure, they have plenty of collaboration with both major card schemas. AFAIK, they do both acquiring and issuing. I don't think collaboration means that you can't compete with each other? Their most successful products in the EU are not using card tracks.

> I don't think collaboration means that you can't compete with each other?

I just don't think there's much room for competition when one party gently keeps another in a chokehold. Klarna depends on Visa, but not vice versa.

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