Brussels, 08/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 December, the European Commission made legally binding Europe's commitments to cut multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for debit card payments. MIFs are bank-to-bank fees for card payments collectively fixed by Visa Europe's member banks but are ultimately paid by consumers. Under the commitments, the maximum weighted average MIF applicable to debit card cross border transactions and to national debit transactions in those countries where MIFs are set directly by Visa Europe will be cut to 0.2% of the value of the transaction. This represents a reduction of about 60% on average for domestic MIFs and 30% for cross-border MIFs. Furthermore, Visa Europe committed to maintain and further develop measures which will increase transparency and competition in the payment cards markets. The Commission considers that the offer is suitable to remedy the competition concerns and closed part of its investigation through a commitments decision according to the regulations on abuse of dominant position. A letter of grievances was sent to Visa Europe in April 2009 (EUROPE 9877). (O.L./transl.jl)