MasterCard Faces Fines

EU Commission accused MasterCard of applying illegal fees and threatened it with a massive fine.

MasterCard uses a complex mechanism to determine a minimum
price merchants must pay for accepting the organization's payment cards. Its
fees are generally passed on to consumers by retailers in the form of higher
prices. „Consumers foot the bill, as they risk paying twice for payment cards:
once through annual fees to their bank, and a second time through inflated
retail prices, given that retailers set their prices taking account of all
costs, including MasterCard's interchange fees.

MasterCard was given six months to withdraw the fees – which
range from 0.4% to 1.20% of the value of the transaction – or face daily fines
worth 3.5% of the company's daily global turnover.