The competition regulator sent requests for information to market participants last week, asking about fees they impose on financial institutions that provide services to retailers using the Visa and Mastercard networks, Bloomberg reported Friday (May 23), citing unnamed sources.
The questions focus on whether retailers have a choice in accepting Visa and Mastercard payments, whether merchants get value from the fees that are passed on to them, and whether the charges are transparent, according to the report.
The commission told Bloomberg that “the investigation is ongoing,” without providing specifics.
Visa said in the report that its fees “reflect the immense value that we provide to financial institutions, merchants and consumers in Europe,” including security and reliability.
Mastercard told Bloomberg that it “offers consumers and businesses choice, ways to pay and be paid that are hassle-free and worry-free, secure and most convenient for them.”
It was reported May 14 that a group of trade associations representing European retailers asked the European Commission to take action against Visa and Mastercard under EU antitrust laws, alleging that the companies charge high fees and don’t provide transparency on those fees.
The letter also called for price controls on interchange fees, transparency and non-discriminatory obligations for international card schemes (ICSs), and a tool for regulators to scrutinize ICSs’ actions, according to the report.
“International Card Schemes (ICS) have been able to increase their fees without competitive challenge or regulatory scrutiny,” the letter said, per the report. “They have also rendered their system of fees and rules so complex and opaque that players are unable to understand, let alone challenge, what they are paying for and why.”
Mastercard was hit with a $648.3 million fine by the EU in 2019, with the EU alleging that the payments company raised the costs of card payments artificially. It was reported at the time that the fine was part of an effort on the part of European regulators to stamp out fees that U.S. credit card companies charge.
