Visa Inc. (V), Mastercard Merchant Fees Infringe Competition Law, UK Tribunal Rules
A close-up of a credit card being swiped on a payment terminal, reflecting the company's payments technology.
The development comes as the latest round of litigation over multilateral interchange fees, which has rumbled on for decades.
David Scott of the law firm Scott+Scott, which represented the claimants, described the ruling as a significant win for merchants. He also said that this was the first time that the two payment processing companies' commercial card and inter-regional multilateral interchange fees were found to infringe competition laws.
According to Reuters, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) disagreed with the decision and has sought permission to appeal against the ruling. A company spokesperson was quoted as saying the following:
'Visa continues to believe that interchange is a critical component to maintaining a secure digital payments ecosystem that benefits all parties, including consumers, merchants, and banks.'
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