EU: Commission plans to accept Visa swipe-fee offer

Sources told reporters Friday that the European Commission is set to accept credit card conglomerate Visa’s proposal to cap swipe-fees for retailers as the EU looks to reign-in the charges.

Two sources said Visa Europe’s offer to limit the interchange fees to 0.3 percent the value of each transaction. That cap leads to a reduction of 40 to 60 percent of the fees, depending on the type of card used.

The Commission has looked to crack down on the swipe-fees after finding they cost merchants $13.7 billion every year. Visa was at risk of a fine as the Commission also found the fees lead to higher consumer costs and were anticompetitive.

While both Visa Europe and the Commission declined to comment on the matter, one source said a decision is “imminent.”

The case goes all the way back to 1997 when consumer lobbyist EuroCommerce issued a complaint with regulators over MasterCard fees; the group responded to the alleged settlement as unsubstantial. The Commission said that Visa’s offer includes cross-boarder fees for traveling consumers as well as domestic transactions in 10 EU member states. The deal would be valid for four years, say reports.

MasterCard settled its own swipe-fee case in 2009 by capping credit card interchange fees at 0.2 percent and debit card fees at 0.3 percent. Similarly, Visa settled an earlier case in the EU by capping debit card fees at 0.2 percent in 2010.

Full Content: Reuters

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