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EU to avoid big revamp of business credit cardsBy David Lawsky and Huw Jones found at today.reuters.com
BRUSSELS, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Neelie Kroes' report on EU retail financial services will stop far short of the actions urged by retailers, who want a ban on the complicated fee structure that has come under attack in Australia and other jurisdictions. The two dominant credit card operators, Visa Europe and MasterCard (MA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) are likely to breathe a sigh of relief. The source said the European Commission was reluctant to make radical changes as this would require credit card companies to find a new business model. Under the current system, the retailer's bank pays the card issuer's bank an interchange fee -- a percentage of each purchase -- to process card-based transactions. Peter Ayliffe, president of Visa Europe, has urged Kroes not to seek fundamental changes to the interchange fee structure, such as scrapping them. He wanted recognition from Kroes that the interchange fee was essential for running a payment card system The Forum for International Retail Association Executives, which represents shops and other merchants that accept credit cards, has said too little competition has allowed Visa and MasterCard to "extract excessive fees from retailers". The antitrust office in Poland, an EU member state, has decided to ban interchange fees, however. And the Reserve Bank of Australia took action last year to cut interchange fees substantially, but Visa Europe said the move bumped up costs for retailers and the same thing would happen in the EU. The Commission struck an agreement with Visa in 2002, forcing it to cut interchange fees by the end of 2007 in return for not being subject to the full thrust of EU antitrust rules. The EU executive is also looking at MasterCard's practice of setting interchange fees. Visa Europe has warned that scrapping interchange fees would jeopardise EU plans to create a cheaper cross-border payments system for the bloc's consumers and companies. © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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