Brussels, 09/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 April 2013, the European Commission decided to launch a formal investigation to investigate whether MasterCard violated EU anti-trust rules by abusing its dominant position in the European Economic Area (EEA). It suspects that the inter-bank fees used by MasterCard are anti-competitive. The Commission is also examining similar inter-bank fees used by Visa (see EUROPE 10667).
European companies and consumers make more than 40% of their non-cash payments by plastic cards and the Commission says that it is crucial to avoid an uneven playing field being set up in the inter-bank fees and other conditions. The Commission has already investigated MasterCard once, and in 2007 banned it from levying inter-bank fees within the EEA (the 27 EU member states, Iceland Liechtenstein and Norway).
The new investigation is looking into inter-bank fees in relation to payments made by cardholders from non EEA countries which apply, for example when an American tourist buys something from a retailer registered in the EEA. All rules on “cross-border acquiring” in the MasterCard system that limit the possibility for a merchant to benefit from better conditions offered by banks established elsewhere in the internal market will be examined along with the “honour all cards rule” which obliges a merchant to accept all types of MasterCard cards. The Commission says such fees and practices could restrict competition and inter-bank fees are usually recovered from retailers, leading to a rise in their costs, and may therefore act as a brake on cross-border trade to the detriment of EU consumers.
The Commission says the launch of proceedings does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. Before the summer break, the Commission is expected to unveil a draft regulation on inter-bank fees for payment cards to ensure a level playing field across the EU. (LC/transl.fl)