Senior UK bank executives will meet this week to begin work on a national card payments system.
The project aims to reduce reliance on US networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
The talks will be chaired by Vim Maru of Barclays.
City institutions will fund the new company, known as DeliveryCo, with government backing.
Officials want a fallback system in case existing networks fail or are switched off.
About 95% of UK card payments currently run through Visa or Mastercard.
Executives warn that losing access would force businesses back to cash.
Concerns have grown amid geopolitical tensions and fears of over-dependence on US infrastructure.
The Bank of England is developing the technical blueprint for the platform.
The industry group will design its structure, leadership and funding model.
The system could be operational by 2030.
Visa and Mastercard are participating in the discussions and say they welcome competition.
UK officials describe the project as a resilience measure rather than a political move.
