⚠️ Blow to Mastercard and Visa Interchange acquirers: the UK regulator🇬🇧 (PSR) proposes to limit their fees for cross-border payments between the Island and Europe.

⚠️ Blow to Mastercard and Visa Interchange acquirers: the UK regulator🇬🇧 (PSR) proposes to limit their fees for cross-border payments between the Island and Europe.

➡️ Cross-border transaction fees are charged when people use debit or credit cards issued in the European Economic Area (EEA) for online retail transactions with British companies. In 2021-2022, Mastercard and Visa have significantly increased some of these fees. According to PSR estimates, British merchants have paid over £150-200 million.

➡️ Mastercard and Visa cards represent 90% of online payments made with cards issued in the EEA.

➡️ A temporary limit of 0.2% is proposed for debit transactions between the UK and the EEA, and 0.3% for credit transactions with UK companies online. The situation will then be assessed, and a final surcharge to be applied in the long term will be proposed.

➡️ The UK has sued Visa and Mastercard on multiple occasions, precisely over the issue of fees. In March 2023, the federal appeals court approved the litigation of a 15-year-old antitrust class-action lawsuit. At that time, merchants accused Visa and Mastercard of causing them financial harm. As a result, the defendants agreed to pay £5.6 billion to 12 million merchants.

➡️ In July, fintech company Block (formerly Square) filed another antitrust lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard, this time in the Eastern District of New York. The company claims that the two payment giants have artificially inflated the so-called swipe fees, leading to increased retail expenses for end consumers.

... While they resolve their issues, people will be more interested in seeking alternative payment methods. And that's simply wonderful! 💕

#Europe #news