KONTAN.CO.ID - BRUSSELS. The European Union has accepted an offer by Visa and Mastercard to cut fees on payments made by tourists using cards issued outside the bloc to stave off fines and end an EU antitrust investigation. The European Commission, which has waged a decades-long crackdown on payment and credit card fees, says that so-called interchange fees in which the merchant's bank pays a charge to the cardholder's bank, result in higher prices for consumers. This is because the fees, which are a lucrative source of revenue for banks, are ultimately borne by the merchant.
EU accepts Visa and Mastercard fees offer to end antitrust probe
KONTAN.CO.ID - BRUSSELS. The European Union has accepted an offer by Visa and Mastercard to cut fees on payments made by tourists using cards issued outside the bloc to stave off fines and end an EU antitrust investigation. The European Commission, which has waged a decades-long crackdown on payment and credit card fees, says that so-called interchange fees in which the merchant's bank pays a charge to the cardholder's bank, result in higher prices for consumers. This is because the fees, which are a lucrative source of revenue for banks, are ultimately borne by the merchant.