Payment cards are of crucial importance across the EU internal market, in particular for purchases across borders or over the internet. European consumers and businesses are making more than 40% of their non-cash payments per year by card. It is therefore a priority for the European Commission to prevent competition distortions in inter-bank arrangements on fees and other conditions.
In 2007, the Commission already prohibited some of MasterCards interbank fees and the Commission is currently investigating Visa.
The Commission has now opened an in-depth investigation into:
These fees and practices may restrict competition. The interbank fees are generally passed on to the merchants, leading to higher overall fees for them. Ultimately, such behaviour is liable to slow down cross-border business and harm EU consumers, the same source points out.
In addition to its antitrust enforcement action, the Commission intends to propose before the summer a regulation on inter-bank fees for card payments that will ensure legal certainty and a durable level playing field across the EU for all providers.
Ralf Gladis, CEO at Computop, a leading international Payment Service Provider with a focus on mid-range to larger sized merchants, comments on MasterCard’s interchange fees announcement here.
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