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UK: New payments watchdog to rein in Visa, MasterCard

By  |  October 14, 2014

The UK’s new payments watchdog, the Payment Systems Regulator, is set to supervise major credit card companies MasterCard and Visa along with mainstream interbank payment systems in efforts to boost competition into the market, say reports.

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    The PSR, which was first launched in 2013, will inherit new regulatory powers next April that will require payments competitors to have access to the nation’s main payments systems. The government is looking to bring over the main interbank systems – including Faster Payments, Link, CHAPS and Bacs – under the scope of the PSR, as well as major credit and debit card providers, including Visa and MasterCard.

    Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom says that “an open and transparent payments system is crucial to give new players freedom to challenge the big banks without unfair barriers, and encourage new, innovative ways for customers to make payments.” She cited figures that found 100 percent of debit card transactions were made through Visa or MasterCard in the UK last year.

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