Håkan Dahlström via flickr
The European Commission fined MasterCard for cross-border restrictions: the company artificially raised fees for processing cross-border debit and credit card transactions within the EU.
"European consumers use payment cards every day, buying food or clothes or making purchases online. MasterCard rules prevented stores from looking for better terms offered by banks in other EU member states, and thus artificially inflated the cost of card payments, causing harm EU consumers and retailers", - commented Member of the European Commission for Competition Margrethe Vestager.
At the same time, MasterCard received a discount from the EC: the penalty was reduced by 10% for cooperation with the investigation.
This penalty is the last in a series of fines imposed over the past decade by the Commission acting as an antitrust regulator for the EU to reduce fees for issuing plastic cards to retailers.
For example, it forced Visa Europe to take on legally binding commitments to limit the level of exchange commissions for all operations with debit and credit cards in the European Economic Area.
The commission also reviewed fees charged for card payments made by tourists visiting the European Union.
source: reuters.com
"European consumers use payment cards every day, buying food or clothes or making purchases online. MasterCard rules prevented stores from looking for better terms offered by banks in other EU member states, and thus artificially inflated the cost of card payments, causing harm EU consumers and retailers", - commented Member of the European Commission for Competition Margrethe Vestager.
At the same time, MasterCard received a discount from the EC: the penalty was reduced by 10% for cooperation with the investigation.
This penalty is the last in a series of fines imposed over the past decade by the Commission acting as an antitrust regulator for the EU to reduce fees for issuing plastic cards to retailers.
For example, it forced Visa Europe to take on legally binding commitments to limit the level of exchange commissions for all operations with debit and credit cards in the European Economic Area.
The commission also reviewed fees charged for card payments made by tourists visiting the European Union.
source: reuters.com
