We've had this in Australia since the 90s at least. All debit cards are dual network: They support both Visa/Mastercard, as well as the local network (called EFTPOS). EFTPOS is noticeably cheaper to process - around 0.3% fee, compared to ~1% for Visa/Mastercard debit in Australia, ~1.5% for credit, and ~3% for Visa/Mastercard in the USA. The profits stay in Australia rather than going to a US company.
That's only for debit cards, though. EFTPOS doesn't support credit cards.
We've had this in Australia since the 90s at least. All debit cards are dual network: They support both Visa/Mastercard, as well as the local network (called EFTPOS). EFTPOS is noticeably cheaper to process - around 0.3% fee, compared to ~1% for Visa/Mastercard debit in Australia, ~1.5% for credit, and ~3% for Visa/Mastercard in the USA. The profits stay in Australia rather than going to a US company.
That's only for debit cards, though. EFTPOS doesn't support credit cards.
Yeah that's not what we're talking about here. Debit cards already have their own circuits, like Bancomat here in Italy. This is about credit cards.
Why would it need to be different for credit cards vs debit cards though?
I don't think it's a technical issue as much as a financial one