The Payments Paddock Episode 2: Visa & Mastercard probe, UK stablecoins, GameStop's eBay bid

Competition regulators eye Mastercard and Visa over PayPal wallet fees, the UK government backs stablecoin infrastructure, and GameStop returns with a puzzling $55bn bid for eBay.

Key takeaways

• The Mastercard–Visa antitrust probe signals that card scheme fees and wallet economics face increased regulatory pressure — greater competition on payment rails should follow.
• Card acquiring fees remain opaque for many UK merchants; benchmark your current pricing and review your acquirer's regulatory disclosure statement now.
• Stablecoin rails offer the clearest near-term benefit for cross-border payments into complex or restricted currency markets.
• AI agents executing payments autonomously is a near-term risk; regulatory guidance on liability does not yet exist, so build governance controls before deploying agentic tools.
• UK open banking standards are among the most advanced globally — building your finance stack around them now reduces future costs.
• Announcing an acquisition without secured funding destroys credibility — a practical reminder for any business planning M&A activity.

Antitrust Spotlight on Mastercard, Visa, and the PayPal Wallet

Regulators have opened a fresh competition probe into Mastercard and Visa, focusing specifically on fees processed through the PayPal digital wallet. The concern is familiar: because consumers and merchants have limited alternatives when PayPal is offered at checkout, the two card schemes may have used that position to impose fees that would not survive in a more competitive market.

This is not the first time the Mastercard–Visa duopoly has attracted antitrust attention. The dynamics echo the collusion allegations that ran from the 1980s through to the 2000s, when both schemes coordinated pricing in ways that protected their own margins at merchants' expense. The current investigation is a modern iteration of the same structural problem — a ubiquitous payment method, limited switching, and fees that are largely invisible to the end user.

A separate investigation into Google Wallet is already under way, suggesting regulators are taking a broader look at the entire digital wallet ecosystem. For UK merchants, the practical effect is that card scheme fees and wallet economics are now under sustained regulatory scrutiny — and greater competition between payment rails should follow, even if slowly.

The Hidden Cost Problem for UK Merchants

One recurring frustration for UK businesses is that the true cost of card acceptance is genuinely difficult to determine. Acquirers are now required to include a regulatory disclosure on statements highlighting a merchant's right to switch and providing a clearer picture of total cost — but the detail buried in card-mix breakdowns and interchange categories means the picture remains opaque for many finance teams.

The Payments Systems Regulator is already reviewing card acquiring more broadly. For any treasurer or CFO still on a legacy acquiring contract, now is a sensible time to benchmark current pricing against the market and ask your provider directly why your rates are set at the level they are.

UK Government Backs Stablecoins and Future Payment Technology

The UK government used London Fintech Week to publish a formal commitment on gov.uk to support stablecoin infrastructure and open banking standards. The announcement included the appointment of a new wholesale digital markets champion with senior FCA and Big Four experience.

Stablecoins have moved from conference talking point to genuine commercial consideration. At major payments events such as Money20/20 Europe, multicurrency technology is now table stakes, and stablecoin on- and off-ramps are the feature every major player is racing to add. Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK is one clear signal that incumbent schemes are taking this seriously.

The practical use cases for UK corporates are sharpening. Businesses dealing with suppliers or clients in markets where traditional banking is slow or unavailable — Brazil is a clear example, where receiving and converting Brazilian reais through UK banking partners remains difficult — can use stablecoin rails to collect funds efficiently. Sectors such as iGaming and spread-betting have already built stablecoin routes to work around restrictions that some tier-one banks impose on those industries.

The government's announcement also touched on AI agents executing payments autonomously. Authorised push payment fraud is already the dominant fraud type in the UK; when an AI agent makes a payment and something goes wrong, it is not yet clear who bears responsibility. The FCA will need to address this directly before agentic finance tools become mainstream.

Open Banking: Where the UK Leads

Alongside stablecoins, open banking standards are central to the government's vision. The UK is among the most advanced markets globally in open banking adoption. Ensuring those standards are adopted universally across the industry matters for every finance team building a modern payments stack — direct connectivity to banking data reduces cost, improves speed, and removes unnecessary intermediaries.

GameStop's $55 Billion Bid for eBay: Meme Stock Returns

Nearly five years after the short squeeze that made GameStop a household name, the company is back in the headlines with a $55 billion takeover approach for eBay, structured as a 50/50 cash and debt deal. The bid targets a business roughly five times GameStop's own market capitalisation of approximately $11.1 billion.

GameStop holds around $9 billion in cash, and TD Securities is reported to be providing a $20 billion credit facility. Even so, a funding gap of roughly $16 billion remains unexplained. When CEO Ryan Cohen was pressed on financing in a television interview, he referred the interviewer to the company's website — a response that did little to build confidence.

The strategic logic is equally hard to follow. GameStop is a physical media and collectibles retailer pivoting away from a declining category. eBay is a digital marketplace that holds no stock. The operational overlap is minimal. Critics have characterised the announcement as a publicity exercise — a reading reinforced by the fact that eBay reportedly suspended Cohen's personal seller account the day after the bid became public.

The market's verdict was swift: GameStop's share price fell roughly 4% while eBay's rose nearly 5%. The lesson for any UK business considering an acquisition is clear: secure your funding before you go public with the offer, or you risk losing credibility before the deal has a chance to be assessed on its merits.

Next steps

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