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ACM: MasterCard lowers tariffs for credit card payments

Over the next two years, financial-services company MasterCard will lower the tariffs that banks charge each other for processing domestic credit-card payments. As a result, businesses such as in retail and the hospitality industry will incur lower costs for credit-card payments. These lower tariffs are the result of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) expressing its concerns last year to MasterCard about the interbank tariffs that MasterCard charged for credit card payments in the Netherlands. These tariffs apply to all credit card payments, both online and offline. They make up 60 percent of  the costs that retailers incur when customers pay by credit card.

ACM received indications from businesses, in particular from retailers, that they thought that the tariffs that credit card companies charged for credit card payments were too high. ACM subsequently investigated these indications.

MasterCard will adjust the interbank tariffs for domestic credit-card payments immediately. The current tariff is 0.9 percent of the transaction. From June 1, 2014, it will be 0.7 percent, from January 1, 2015, it will be 0.5 percent, and from January 1, 2016, it will be 0.3 percent. Since MasterCard has promised to lower its tariffs, ACM no longer sees any reason to carry out further investigations into potential violations of the competition rules by MasterCard.