European Commission (EC) is working on a draft law that can limit the maximum amount of fees collected by payment systems such as Visa Europe and MasterCard
RBC-Ukraine reports.
Early versions provided for complete abolition of commission on debit card transactions, but later the Commission softened its position.
Now the EC proposes to limit the fee at 0.2% of the transferred amount on credit as well as debit cards. New rules will be introduced gradually over the next two years.
According to estimates, this will cut earnings from debit card transactions from € 4.8 million to € 2.5 billion, and from credit cards - from € 5.7 million to € 3.5 billion. "Large fees that shop owners are forced to pay result in increased prices for goods and services. Eventually interests of consumers suffer", the draft document says.
Currently fees vary greatly. For example, a transaction with a debit card may cost from 0.1% of the total amount in Denmark to 1.6% in Poland. Same with credit cards: in Germany the average fee is 1.8%, while in France - only 0.5%.
