Europe’s largest retail and payments associations have formally called on the European Commission to act against rising fees imposed by Visa and Mastercard, warning of an uncompetitive and opaque system. In a letter dated May 13 and seen by Reuters, groups including EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe, Independent Retail Europe, the European Association of Corporate Treasurers, and the European Digital Payments Industry Alliance urged intervention to address fee hikes by international card schemes (ICSs).
According to the letter, ICSs have raised their fees by an average of 7.6% annually between 2018 and 2022, amounting to a 33.9% cumulative increase on top of inflation. The retailers argue that these increases have not been matched by improvements in service quality for either merchants or consumers. The fees, they claim, are buried in layers of complex pricing structures that make it nearly impossible to understand or challenge what is being charged.
Visa and Mastercard currently process roughly two-thirds of all card payments in the eurozone, a dominance that has raised concerns among policymakers about Europe’s reliance on foreign payment networks. These concerns have spurred efforts to establish alternatives like the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and the digital euro project.
Frustrated with slow progress on these fronts, the retail groups are now pushing for the EU to use antitrust powers to regulate Visa and Mastercard. Their demands include price controls on interchange fees, mandatory transparency requirements, and new regulatory tools to oversee the conduct of card schemes.
TrueLayer CEO Francesco Simoneschi echoed the sentiment, accusing the card giants of turning fee complexity into a business model that burdens merchants and restricts competition. Meanwhile, Visa defended its pricing, saying it reflects investments in security, operational resilience, and innovative consumer offerings.