Report: EU Questions Retailers in Visa and Mastercard Fee Controversy

The European Commission has reportedly launched a probe into whether Mastercard and Visa’s fees are hurting merchants.

The commission sent out questionnaires to retailers and payment service providers about both Visa and Mastercard in September, giving them until October to respond, Reuters reported Wednesday (Nov. 6), citing an EU document it had seen.

Retailers have complained about “scheme fees” by Visa and Mastercard in recent years, pointing to the firms’ dominance saying there is a lack of transparency around such fees, according to the report. Scheme fees are levied on merchants by card payment system operators for the use of their services.

The results of the questionnaire can help EU regulators build an antitrust case, which can lead to fines of up to 10% of a company’s global earnings.

When reached by Reuters for comment, a Visa spokesperson said the company was contacted by the Commission in late August to provide more information and was working through it “to supply the relevant information.”

Meanwhile, Mastercard told the publication: “Governments and regulators around the world want to ensure they have line of sight into how industries work. That’s what this is, a simple request for information.”

The European Union is also expected to crack down on Apple for antitrust violations of its new Digital Markets Act.

As PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Nov. 5), Apple is set to face a fine from antitrust regulators later this month for violating its tech rules.

In other news in the region, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled Oct. 4 that Meta Platforms can use only some of the data it gathers from Facebook users for targeted advertising purposes, PYMNTS reported last month.

The ruling was decided in a case by privacy activist Max Schrems.

“Schrems, who has brought several cases against Meta for alleged breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), said the company processed personal data to deliver tailored advertising to him,” PYMNTS wrote.

“In its Friday ruling, the CJEU said under the data minimization principle outlined in the GDPR, social networks like Facebook cannot use all the personal data they obtain from users to deliver targeted advertising,” PYMNTS added.