Payment systems alternatives

Alternatives to: Mastercard, Visa

These are very hard to get away from. However, since both Mastercard and Visa have been selling our purchasing data (anonymised and in aggregate) to the RTB system since 2014, it is worth trying!


App name Open Source Structure; Business model Features Country of origin Link
Monero Yes Free Open Source Private, secure cryptocurrency; Bitcoin alternative Open Source GetMonero.org
zCash Yes Free Open Source Private, secure cryptocurrency; Bitcoin alternative Open Source Z.cash
Bitcoin Yes Free Open Source The main, most trusted cryptocurrency Open Source Bitcoin.org
GNU Taler Yes Free Open Source Not crypto! Private electronic transfer of regular fiat currency; Part of the GNU project Switzerland / Open Source Taler.net
Cash n/a n/a Physical cash currency - about as private as it gets! n/a

RTA's choice

We have started to use cash more, given the extent of surveillance capitalism. One of us holds Bitcoin but doesn't use it much for payments.


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➡️ Other tech alternatives