ROME: MasterCard Inc. is poised to receive an antitrust complaint from European Union watchdogs probing card-payment fees, according to three people with knowledge of the case.
Regulators may send a statement of objections to MasterCard before the end of July, said the people, who asked not to be named because the case isn’t public. Such filings in antitrust probes are usually a precursor for fines.
EU antitrust regulators have targeted swipe fees on credit-and debit-cards for more than a decade, warning that the way the charges are collectively agreed on is anti-competitive.
“MasterCard being much more internationally focused, it has been more inclined to fight than to settle so far,” said Ruth Milligan, senior adviser on payment services at EuroCommerce, a group representing European retailers including Ikea, Carrefour SA and Tesco Plc, which backs the European Commission’s stance in the case.
The latest EU case, opened in 2013, targeted excessive fees when foreign visitors go shopping in the 28-nation bloc, as well as measures thwarting cross-border competition among banks that offer card services to traders.
The EU antitrust watchdog said at the time it would also investigate MasterCard’s “honor all cards” rule, which obliges a merchant to accept all types of cards from the company, including premium products bundled with add-ons such as insurance and travel services.
MasterCard “is working with the European Commission on the issue as part of an ongoing constructive dialog,” the Purchase, New York-based company said in an e-mailed statement. The commission in Brussels declined to immediately comment on the EU probe.
