Two companies quietly run the tollboothVisa and Mastercard handle almost 90% of card processing outside China. It’s literally the foundation of our economy, given that in-person card payments are also facilitated mostly by Visa or Mastercard. The UK Gambling Commission gave a blanket ban on credit card gambling from April 2020, after finding that 22% of online gamblers who used credit cards showed signs of problems. It was a reminder that the rails themselves hold the keys to revenue, and without revenue, the entire business can crumble down overnight with a single policy update. Well, adoption remains thin, with roughly a fifth of UK consumers using open banking payments.