A prominent French whistleblower and Spanish anti-corruption activists who triggered an investigation of a former International Monetary Fund chief announced Thursday they are designing a digital payment system aimed at excluding middlemen companies that make money from online purchases.

Herve Falciani and the Xnet group said their peer-to-peer payment system would work like PayPal on a local basis within European cities for citizen payments to participating businesses and governments.

Falciani and Xnet said it will be nonprofit, with a pilot program in Italy starting in March. They said excluding online payment companies would mean savings for local consumers and businesses.

Following a worldwide wave of ongoing corruption probes sparked by his document leaks from the HSBC bank, Falciani said he next wants to prevent online payment companies from profiting so much and transform the transactions to “keep money local.”

“There was a time for leaks, there was a time for politics, and now it is time for business.”

Read more on the Associated Press website.

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