WRITTEN QUESTION E-3458/01

by Rosa Díez González (PSE)and Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

(4 January 2002)

Subject: SMEs and credit cards

The conflict between businesses and the banks issuing credit cards has flared up in Spain once again, because of the high levels of commission charged by the banks,

In these circumstances Commissioners Monti and Solbes have taken steps to remedy abuse in this sector, which affects a number of countries, but above all Spain, where commission averages 3,5 %, the highest level among the EU Member States.

What steps will the Commission consider taking to put an end to the wrongful practices of banks issuing credit cards?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(4 February 2002)

The Commission is currently dealing with a complaint introduced under the European competition rules by EuroCommerce, a European confederation of retailers' organisations, against the existence of interchange fees in various payment card systems. Interchange fees are wholesale payments between the two banks involved in the processing of a payment card transaction, which have repercussions on the fees charged by banks to retailers for card acceptance. The complaint concerns interchange fees for both cross-border payments and domestic payments within Member States.

The Commission is considering in the first instance interchange fees for cross-border card payments, as these clearly have an appreciable effect on trade between Member States. In the absence of an appreciable effect on inter-state trade, national competition authorities are competent to examine alleged restrictions of competition under national competition law. Moreover, the Commission also had, before the introduction of the complaint, notifications from international payment card organisations of their international interchange fees.

The first such case is the notification from Visa International of its intra-regional interchange fee, which applies to cross-border Visa card payments within the Visa European zone. On this interchange fee the Commission addressed a Statement of Objections to Visa International in October 2000. However, following proposals by Visa for reforms to its method for setting the level of its intra-regional interchange fee, the Commission published a Notice in the Official Journal on 11 August 2001(1), indicating its provisional intention to adopt a favourable position concerning the revised intra-regional interchange fee of Visa. In parallel, the complainant EuroCommerce was informed of the Commission's provisional intention to reject its complaint as concerns the intra-regional interchange fee of Visa, and was given the opportunity to reply. A number of comments in reply to the Official Journal Notice, and a submission from the complainant, were received. The Commission is considering these carefully, following which it will proceed to a final decision on the intra-regional interchange fee of Visa International.

Subsequently, the Commission will consider other cross-border interchange fees of other international card payment organisations, then it will consider the complaint against domestic interchange fees, including that in Spain. However, for domestic card payments the Commission will first have to determine, in consultation with the national competition authorities as appropriate, whether such domestic fees affect trade between Member States.

(1) OJ C 226, 11.8.2001.