Multilateral Interchange Fees are prohibited in the EU

Multilateral Interchange Fees are prohibited in the EU – confirmed by the ECJ

On 11 September 2014, the Court of Justice of the EU (“ECJ”) ruled that the Multilateral Interchange Fees applied by MasterCard are prohibited, creating a base for lower usage costs for all retailers and consumers within the European Union.

The Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIF) are the balancing payments between the bank of a retailer and the bank of a consumer to cover the costs of a card transaction. The fees are paid indirectly by a retailer to a cardholders’ bank after the cardholder pays with a credit card.

#eucompetitionlaw #antitrustrules