Senior UK bank executives will meet this week to begin creating a domestic card payments system.
The project aims to reduce reliance on Visa and Mastercard and protect the economy from potential disruption.
The talks will be chaired by Vim Maru of Barclays.
City institutions will fund the new company, while the government supports the initiative.
About 95% of UK card transactions currently run through the two US networks.
Concerns have grown over geopolitical risk and the possibility of foreign systems being switched off.
Officials say a domestic alternative would add resilience as cash use declines.
In Russia, sanctions that halted Visa and Mastercard left many people unable to pay for goods.
The project, known as DeliveryCo, will design its structure and funding model first.
The Bank of England is preparing the technical blueprint.
The new system could be operating by 2030.
Visa and Mastercard are involved in the discussions and say they welcome competition.
Banks including Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Santander UK are also taking part.
