Senior UK bank executives will meet this week to begin work on a national payments system to rival Visa and Mastercard.
The talks, chaired by Vim Maru of Barclays, aim to reduce reliance on US-owned networks.
About 95% of UK card transactions currently run through the two companies.
Industry figures warn that losing access would cause severe economic disruption.
Concerns have grown alongside geopolitical tensions and the decline of cash use.
The project, known as DeliveryCo, will be funded by City institutions with government support.
Participants include Santander UK, NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society and Link.
The Bank of England will design the technical infrastructure.
Officials describe the plan as a resilience measure rather than a political move.
A domestic “payment rail” would act as a backup if existing systems failed.
The network could be operational by 2030.
Visa and Mastercard support the initiative and say they welcome competition.
Both remain deeply embedded in the UK payments market while the new system is developed.
