WayTooHigh.com - The Credit Card Interchange Report has been providing daily news and commentary updates on our battle against merchant interchange fees for nearly 2 1/2 years, but our cause is not just domestic within the United States. EuroCommerce is hosting an outstanding website that further cements the critical multi-billion dollar issues that affects all retailers in Europe and across the globe. Next month, we [30 Minute photos Etc. and ScanMyPhotos.com] will be attending and speaking at a photo industry convention in the UK and will be interested in gaining first-hand prospectives from other retailers on how the interchange extortion is affecting them as well.
The below highlights are from the StopUnfairCardFees.eu website. Click here to read more.
- Did you know? Visa and MasterCard argue that the hidden fees - which cost Europe €25 billion every year - are essential to run card schemes. Why then are there some card schemes in Europe which operate successfully without hidden ‘interchange’ fees?
- “My bank told me the fee covers processing costs for Visa and MasterCard. But I read that only 13% of the fees go toward these costs, with the rest going to bank profits, and rewards for the select few cardholders. What’s the deal?”
- Europe’s retailers want the best for Europe’s shoppers – in terms of price, quality, service and choice. But prices in Europe are artificially inflated because of hidden fees for debit and credit cards – fees which all shoppers end up paying for. We believe Europe’s shoppers have the right to know …
- What is happening in Europe is not an isolated case. Visa, MasterCard and the banks that hide behind them try around the world to continue and spread their anti-competitive activities. Yet in some countries, they are no longer able to get away with it.
- According to US Senator Arlen Specter: “We may need to modify our antitrust laws to stop credit card companies from engaging in activities to gouge and jack up prices.”
- According to Philip Lowe, Assistant Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia: “These fees are not subject to the normal forces of competition and in the RBA’s view were distorting the use of payment methods in Australia.”
- MasterCard and Visa and their interchange fees have also aroused the interest of regulatory authorities and central banks in a range of further countries across the world. These include: Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore, Switzerland, and Israel.
- What is happening in Europe is not an isolated case. Visa, MasterCard and the banks that hide behind them try around the world to continue and spread their anti-competitive activities. Yet in some countries, they are no longer able to get away with it.
- Why is it anti-competitive? Unless constraints are imposed by regulators, payment card companies and their banks can increase interchange rates at any time by any amount. In the words of the European Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, “these high fees are a result of a lack of competition in a market where 95% of cross border payments in Europe are made by two companies. The situation is even bleaker in some Member States, where there is only one single acquiring bank servicing retailers.”
- Why are interchange fees unfair? First of all, Visa and MasterCard do not inform customers of these interchange fees, they simply set them with the banks behind them and charge retailers and their shoppers accordingly. We believe you have the right to know more about these fees. It is even more unfair for shoppers who do not use the credit or debit cards. That’s because these hidden fees are not charged just to cardholders - that is forbidden the rules of by some card schemes and banks. The high cost of card payments must be passed on across all purchases. This drives up the cost of goods and services for all consumers whether they pay with plastic or cash. This has a serious knock on effect for the wider economy.
- What’s it about? Whether you use a credit card or not, you pay a hidden fee on virtually every transaction you make. The fees have an inflationary effect and they add up. They cost European shoppers tens of billions of Euros every year.
[Source: Above abstracts from StopUnfairCardFees.eu]
