EU Accepts Visa, Mastercard Pledges to Cut Fees

   By Nathan Allen

Europe's top antitrust authority on Monday said it has accepted commitments from Visa Inc. (V) Mastercard Inc. (MA) to cut fees on payments made in the European Economic Area with cards issued elsewhere.

Both companies pledged to reduce inter-regional interchange fees by an average of 40% in response to concerns raised by the European Commission in 2015.

The fees are applied to all transactions made with consumer debit and credit cards issued outside Europe. In the absence of bilateral agreements between the cardholder's bank and the retailer's bank, the rates are set by Visa or Mastercard.

The commission said the commitments will reduce costs for retailers in Europe when they accept payment from non-European cards, ultimately benefiting consumers.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2019 06:32 ET (10:32 GMT)

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