A bird’s eye view on the European card market, however, shows very fragmented national markets, especially regarding card schemes – even though for processors, integration has started. The market is divided into a number of national schemes and international schemes.
But let me just add that the UK belongs to the few countries, 6 where one international scheme offers also the services of a national scheme. 5  ATKearney (2008): The SEPA Shake out! Challenges in Cards and Payments. 6  Other examples are Austria and Cyprus. BIS Review 86/2008  5  What are the benefits of SEPA for card users?