The main economic rationale is the possible lack of competition should national card schemes be wound up in the years to come. Some small national schemes, such as the Dutch and the Finnish schemes, are being replaced by international ones and they are unlikely to be the last.
Moreover, card payments are increasingly substituting for cash payments in the day-to-day lives of a growing number of European citizens. With this increasing importance, any mispricing of card payment services would have a major impact on each and every European and on the European economy as a whole. Therefore, sufficient competition for such an important means of payment is absolutely crucial.