Visa and Mastercard have announced their commitment to maintain a cap on tourist card fees for an additional five years, as stated by the European Commission.
In 2019, the two US payment giants agreed to reduce interchange fees for payments made in Europe with cards issued outside the region by an average of 40%, following an EU antitrust investigation. This agreement was initially set to last until November 2024 but has now been extended to November 2029.
For transactions where the card is present, fees will remain capped at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. For transactions where the card is not present, caps will remain at 1.15% for debit cards and 1.5% for credit cards.
The 2019 agreement resulted from criticism from the EU’s competition authority regarding the higher inter-regional interchange fees imposed on European retailers accepting payments from cards issued outside the European Economic Area (EEA), which were believed to inflate prices for consumers in the region.
However, the European Commission has cautioned that the voluntary commitments by Visa and Mastercard do not exempt them from future investigations or proceedings if concrete evidence arises suggesting that the current caps may no longer be suitable.