A National Card Payment System

Scotland and the wider United Kingdom must develop a National Credit and Debit Card Payment System outside of USA Control.

In Scotland, for example, over 60% of payments are made with Visa and Mastercard cards.

The US and international financial elite controls this technology and in the worst case could actually shut down the use of these cards in the UK.

Perhaps they might want to threaten us, or punish us, for some reason. Imagine the chaos!

ATM machines could also fail, because they are often connected to Visa and Mastercard networks for authentication.

Frankly, it is astonishing that our UK government has allowed our economy to become highly vulnerable in this way. It is a risk which threatens both our national and personal Economic Sovereignty.

Russia, India, Brazil and South Korea have already introduced their own national payment cards. These systems offer lower transaction fees for businesses, meaning that businesses can keep more of their sales revenue, thereby helping to ensure continuation of, for example, the High Street shops.

We advocate the establishment of our own National Card Payment System, which would demonstrate a positive advance in the independence and strength of our national economy, and help small businesses to prosper.

POLICY: When elected to Holyrood we will publicise this vital issue, encourage research on it, and support a Bill to accelerate such a system in Scotland.