Mastercard and Visa extend EU travel card inter-regional fee cap

In 2019, US payments giants agreed to cut interchange fees for payments made in Europe with cards issued elsewhere by an average of 40% following an EU antitrust investigation.

The contract was valid for five years until November 2024, but has now been extended for a further five years until November 2029.

For card transactions, fees remain capped at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. For card-free transactions, the limit remains at 1.15% for debit cards and 1.5% for credit cards.

The 2019 agreement came after the two card schemes were criticised by the EU competition watchdog for imposing higher cross-regional interchange fees on European retailers who accept payments with cards issued outside the EEA, which it said had driven up the prices of consumer goods and services across the region.

Despite the extension of the agreement, the European Commission warns that “the voluntary commitments by Visa and Mastercard do not prevent the Commission from conducting investigations or opening proceedings if it receives concrete evidence that the current limits are no longer appropriate.”