New Delhi, July 2 -- A turf war is breaking out in the vast world of digital payments - and the incumbents are suddenly on defense.

Tech firms and crypto start-ups are moving in on territory long dominated by Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., powered by a new type of currency - the stablecoin - and a pitch merchants can't ignore: lower fees, faster settlement and a way to bypass the big two altogether, reported Bloomberg.

It's a tech threat and a financial threat. Digital tokens, which are typically pegged to the dollar, allow consumers to pay merchants directly from their crypto wallets - without routing payments through a bank or card network. Last year alone, US businesses paid an estimated $187 billion in swipe fees, most of it via Vis...