19 January 2006
BERLIN - A legal complaint aimed at cutting fees charged by credit card groups VISA and Mastercard was lodged Thursday with the country's federal monopolies body, a retail lobby group said in a statement.
The complaint says fees charged both companies to stores accepting credit cards average 1.5 per cent per sale and that this has prevented widespread acceptance of credit cards in Germany.
"Only 5 per cent of all retail sales are paid for with credit cards," said the statement by the German Retail Association which made the complaint to the Bundeskartellamt - the federal mergers and monopolies commission.
The complaint calls on the Bundeskartellamt to order fees to be reduced and for improved transparency aimed at improving credit card sector competition "which hardly exists."
Spain, the German lobby group notes, has ordered a step-by-step reduction of Intercharge fees to between 0.54 per cent and 1.10 per cent by 2008.
[source: Expatica's German News]
