The fees charged to merchants for each payment by bank card have continued to increase in recent years, according to several studies. A practice that the Minister of the Economy would like to see better regulated.
Each time you pay by credit card, merchants must pay fees to the companies that set up the payment systems. Including, obviously, the two largest in the sector, Visa and MasterCard.
According to information given to the economic daily The echoes by a source close to the matter, France would like, within the framework of the next term of office of the (European) Commission, that the question of a management at the European level card payment fees either discuss, through a in-depth study of the level of increase in total payment card fees charged to merchants.
Fees increased by 50%
These fees, paid by the merchant to his bank, include interchange, from the merchant’s bank to the cardholder’s bank, the commission from the merchant’s bank as well as card network fees, explains the daily The echoes.
At first glance, the consumer therefore does not perceive them, unless the merchants pass them on in their prices. Because, the problem is, these costs have increased significantly in recent years: 50% more in four years, according to traders. A DCCRF study confirms the trend: the average fee for debit card transactions was 0.27% of the amount paid in 2018, compared to 0.44% in 2022. And the increase could well be even higher since neither Visa nor Mastercard wanted to communicate their figures.
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The sector’s leaders justify these increases by financing systems to combat fraud or by an increase in their own costs. Arguments far from convincing everyone. Payment institutions, acquirers and merchants claim that the fee structures of card networks have become more complex and lack transparency, according to the European Commission study relayed by the economic daily. One more argument for better regulation?