Following pressure from the European Commission, Visa and Mastercard pledged last year to cut their European interregional multilateral interchange fees by at least 40%. The two international networks will honor their commitment on October 19, 2019, according to banking sources.
This change will significantly reduce the costs for European merchants accepting consumer credit or debit cards issued outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). An example of this type of transaction is an American tourist dining at a restaurant in Belgium.
Specifically, the interchange fees for:
- In-store purchases will be lowered to 0.2% for debit cards and to 0.3% for credit cards.
- Online purchases will be lowered to 1.15% for debit cards and to 1.5% for credit cards.
This is excellent news for businesses such as luxury retailers, air carriers and other travel and tourism organizations, whose non-European customers account for a considerable portion of their revenue in Europe.
To help you better understand the current and future issues surrounding interchange fees in Europe and how they can impact your business, we have produced a PDF illustrating these changes.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 346 207-0250.