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Visa and Mastercard Win Right to Appeal UK Ruling on Interchange Fees

By  |  March 17, 2026
Visa and Mastercard Win Right to Appeal UK Ruling on Interchange Fees

Visa and Mastercard have been granted permission to challenge a major UK ruling that found aspects of their fee structures breached competition law, marking a significant development in a long-running legal dispute with retailers.

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    London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that the two global payments companies can appeal a prior judgment concerning their multilateral interchange fees, according to Reuters. These fees, typically charged to retailers when customers use card payments, have been at the center of years of litigation involving hundreds of merchants.

    The earlier decision came from the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which ruled in 2024 that Visa and Mastercard’s multilateral interchange fees violated European competition rules. The case combined multiple lawsuits brought by retailers who argued that the fees were unfairly high and restricted competition. Lawyers representing the merchants said at the time that the ruling marked the first instance in which such fees—particularly those tied to commercial cards and cross-border transactions—were found to breach competition law, per Reuters.

    Related: Visa, Mastercard and Revolut Fail to Block UK Fee Cap Proposal

    Tuesday’s decision by the Court of Appeal allows both companies to contest that finding, offering them another opportunity to defend the structure and role of interchange fees within the payments system.

    Visa and Mastercard welcomed the ruling in separate statements, emphasizing the importance of interchange fees in supporting the digital payments ecosystem. They argued that such fees help sustain benefits for consumers, businesses, and financial institutions, according to Reuters.

    On the other side of the case, legal representatives for the claimants signaled their readiness to continue the fight. Cian Mansfield of law firm Scott+Scott, which represents the merchants, said: “We are confident that we will resist the application successfully at the substantive appeal”.

    Source: Reuters