Visa and Mastercard are bidding to close a long running battle with US retailers over interchange fees with a promise to trim charges and let merchants have freedom of choice over which cards they have to accept.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal says the card schemes have agreed to cut interchange fees, which typically average 2-2.5% per transaction, by a tenth of a percentage point over several years.
Also, under the new agreement, merchants that accept one type of Visa card wouldn’t need to accept all Visa credit cards. The arrangement could divide credit card acceptance into multiple categories such as rewards credit cards, credit cards with no rewards programs, and commercial cards.
Speaking on the new sttlement, Mastercard states: “We believe that this is the best resolution for all parties, delivering the clarity, flexibility and consumer protections that were sought in this effort. Smaller merchants will gain in this settlement - more acceptance choices, reduced costs and simplified rules."