Visa and Mastercard shares fall on UK payments rival report

Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) stock prices declined slightly, recovering from recent increases, following a report by Sky News. The news outlet revealed that prominent UK banks are launching a fundraising campaign to establish a new domestic payments infrastructure, potentially posing a challenge to the two card network leaders.

The UK Payments Delivery Company (PDC), a recently formed organization, intends to initiate an equity raise on Tuesday to establish the country’s future payments utility. The fundraising effort will seek around £50 million from various industry stakeholders, including banks, lenders, and payment service providers. The initial funding will support the PDC until 2028, covering its formation and rollout phases.

Efforts are underway to appoint a chief executive for the new entity. The announcement potentially undermines Visa and Mastercard's dominance in the UK payments market, as Britain's major banks prepare to create their own payment infrastructure.