Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Lagarde underscored Europe’s dependence on foreign digital payment infrastructure. “Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Alipay are all controlled by American or Chinese companies,” she noted, arguing, “We should make sure there is a European offer.”
Money is the credit mechanism originally (and still is in most developed countries). Coins and paper bills are IOUs from the central bank or the government, which will be exchanged for gold on request. Even though most countries moved away from the gold standard.