Mastercard Fined EUR570 Million by EU for Obstructing Access to Cross-Border Services
January 22 2019 - 6:19AM
Dow Jones News
By Donato Paolo Mancini
European antitrust authorities fined Mastercard Inc. (MA) EUR570
million ($648 million) for obstructing merchants' access to
cross-border card-payment services, the European Commission said
Tuesday.
The fine is for limiting the possibility for merchants to
benefit from better conditions offered by banks established
elsewhere in the single market, the EU said.
"By preventing merchants from shopping around for better
conditions offered by banks in other member states, Mastercard's
rules artificially raised the costs of card payments, harming
consumers and retailers in the EU," competition commissioner
Margrethe Vestager said.
Mastercard cooperated with the EU by acknowledging the facts and
the infringements of EU competition rules, the EU said. In return
for this, the EU granted the company a 10% fine reduction.
Mastercard had no immediate comment.
Write to Donato Paolo Mancini at
donatopaolo.mancini@dowjones.com; @donatopmancini
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2019 06:04 ET (11:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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