Brussels, 09/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The second raft of provisions of Regulation 2015/751 setting limits on multilateral interchange fees (MIF) for debit and credit card payments entered into force on Thursday 9 June.
MIFs are fees paid by a retailer's bank to the bank of the holder of the payment card used for the transaction.
The rules in question are as follows: - retailers will be allowed to promote the payment brand (example in Belgium: Bancontact and Maestro) which offers the best cost-effectiveness ratio, but consumers will continue to have the final say when they make the payment; - consumers will be able to ask their bank to co-badge a single card (or, in the future, their mobile phone) allowing them to use all card products issued (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro or American Express); - retailers will have to display the cards they accept in a clear and unequivocal manner at the entrance to the shop, at the till and on their website; - banks will now have to specify to the retailer the fee for each transaction.
The first raft of rules, which came into effect in December 2015, brought in the following upper limits for MIFs: - 0.3% of the value of the transaction for all credit card payments; - 0.2% of the transaction value for all debit card payments, with the option for the member states to set transitional rules in place (see EUROPE 11330). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)