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Mastercard and Visa have agreed to reduce by 40% on average interchange fees for payments made in Europe by cards issued elsewhere, as a result of an EU antitrust investigation.
The EU's competition monitoring mechanism has cracked down on these two payment systems by applying higher interregional interchange fees to European retailers accepting card payments issued outside the EEA, thus demanding an increase in the prices of consumer goods and services in the region.
The Commission is the first competition authority in the world to intervene in interregional pricing structures.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, responsible for competition policy, said: "Mastercard and Visa have committed to significantly reduce interchange fees for payments made in Europe with cards issued elsewhere. The commitments, which now link Visa and Mastercard, will reduce the costs incurred by retailers in accepting payments with cards issued outside the EEA. This, combined with our January 2019 decision regarding Mastercard's cross-border card payment services, will result in lower prices for European retailers who want to do business, ultimately benefiting all consumers. "
The Commission has long been fighting a protracted war against the two dominant card schemes concerning the costs borne by merchants for accepting Visa and Mastercard. It led to the imposition of ceilings for cross-border taxes and a fine of € 570 million to Mastercard for limiting the possibility for traders to benefit from better terms offered by banks established elsewhere in the single market, in violation antitrust rules of the EU.
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