Two proposed collective claims have been filed at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal against Visa and Mastercard. The first concerns multilateral interchange fees on consumer debit, credit and prepaid cards for the period from October 2020 to October 2026, on behalf of businesses that accept cards, with a value estimated at up to £5 billion. The second concerns fees on purchases with cards from EEA countries at UK merchants after Brexit. The claims must first be certified by the tribunal before they can go ahead.

What it means: Interchange fees are the amount the merchant's bank pays the card-issuing bank on each transaction, and they end up in every shop's cost of accepting cards. In the UK, disputes over these fees have run for more than a decade and have already led to significant compensation. The new claim differs because it covers the recent period, when EU caps no longer bind the country after its exit. In the EU, and therefore in Greece, Regulation 2015/751 caps fees at 0.2% for consumer debit and 0.3% for consumer credit cards, which limits this cost. Corporate cards, cards from outside the EU and scheme fees are not covered, however, and these have been rising in recent years. For Greek merchants, especially in tourism where many customers pay with British or American cards, it is worth asking the card acquirer for a breakdown of charges by card type. That shows what each category costs and whether alternatives such as IRIS instant payments can cut the bill.

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