Retailers urge the European Commission to take energetic measures against Visa, Mastercard

The largest retailers in Europe and online retail giants have urged the European Commission to control supposedly high rates charged by Visa and Mastercard, saying that they harmed the competitiveness of the block and hinder the rivals.

Visa and Mastercard dominate the payment card market and in recent years face complaints from retailers about the rates of their schemes, and what retailers say it is a lack of transparency in these rates. The two US companies process approximately two thirds of card payments in the eurozone.

The complaints of the retailers have partly taken the European Union of 27 countries to look for alternatives such as a digital euro to reduce the dependence of US payments suppliers. However, the slow legislative process in a digital currency has frustrated some policy and business formulators.

“International card schemes (ICS) have been able to increase their rates without a competitive challenge or regulatory scrutiny. They have also made their rates and rules system so complex and opaque that players cannot understand, much less challenge, what they are paying and why,” the retailers said in a letter on May 13 and seen by Reuters.

The group cited a 2024 report of the Brattle group that showed a cumulative increase in ICS rates of 33.9% between 2018 and 2022, with an average of 7.6% per year, in addition to inflation, but found no corresponding improvement in the service for merchants and consumers of the EU.

Visa and Mastercard had no immediate comments.

The letter was addressed to the antimonopoly chief of the Teresa Ribera Commission, the Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Luís Albuquerque and the head of Economy Valdis Dombrovskis.

The signatories were Eurocommerce, Electronic Commerce Europe, Independent Retail Europe, the European Corporate Treasure Association and the European Alliance of the Digital Industry Payments.

The members of the lobby groups include Aldi, Amazon, Carrefour, Ebay, H&M, Ikea, Intersport, Marks & Spencer, Worldline, Nexi and Teya.

The letter asked the commission to take measures against Visa and Mastercard under the EU antitrust rules, modify the rules on exchange rates by imposing price controls in the scheme rates, the transparency of collection and non -discriminatory obligations in the ICI and introduce a tool for regulators to analyze the actions taken by the ICS.