visa and Mastercard Reportedly Near Settlement too Reduce Transaction Fees
Jakarta – Visa (VN) and Mastercard โฃ(MA.N) are reportedly close to reaching a settlement with merchants to lower transaction fees,โ known as interchange fees, according to a report by theโฃ Wall Street Journal citingโ sources familiar with the matter.
The potential agreement would see both companies reduce interchange โfees – typically ranging from 2% to 2.5% per transaction – โby approximately โคone-tenth of a percentage point over several years.โฃ Merchants would alsoโ gain more versatility in accepting credit cards, allowing them to decline certain card types deemed too expensive to process.
Neither Mastercard nor Visa responded to requests for โขcomment from Reuters.
Discussions center around categorizing credit card โฃacceptance, differentiating between options like gift cards, non-reward cards, and commercial cards.
This proposed settlement seeks to resolve a legal dispute dating back to 2005. Last year,a similar agreement resulted inโ a $30 billion settlement,committing companies to reduce swipe rates โby at least 0.04 percentage points โคover three years and maintain rates โan average โขof seven basis pointsโ below current levels for five years.
Both Visa and Mastercard โฃhave maintained they have not engaged in wrongdoing whileโค negotiating resolutions to these issues. Merchants have long argued that Visa and Mastercard charge excessive interchange fees and employ “anti-steering” rules that prevent them from incentivizing customers to use cheaper payment methods.
The current โฃsettlement talks also reportedly include additional costs.
(clay/clay)