British MPs Will Examine Increases In Visa And Mastercard Fees

A parliamentary committee said on Thursday it found no evidence to justify increases in Visa(NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) fees and that British lawmakers plan to review the increase. Parliament's Treasury Select Committee said companies whose networks make up 99% of UK card transactions are increasing plan and clearing fees paid by businesses to card issuers when a card is used. “Given that Visa and Mastercard are now fully dominating this space, it is vital to ensure there is adequate regulation and competition in the market so businesses are not exposed to ever-increasing service costs,” said committee chair Mel Stride. Mastercard said, "We note the Treasury Selection Committee's interest and look forward to working with the PSR (Payment Systems Regulator) as it conducts its review." Visa has not yet commented. "Our analysis shows that a significant portion of these increases are not explained by changes in trading volume, value or mix," PSR said in a statement. Barter fees for British consumers' purchases have risen after the UK's departure from the European Union. PSR stated that it closely examined the increases in cross-border exchange fees by Visa and Mastercard in October and saw no significant change in costs for issuers. In another statement PSR said,"Our proposed study will take a closer look at the rationale behind the recent increases and whether this points to any themes or concerns that require action from us." Committee chairman Mel Stride stated that the Treasury committee will discuss those plans at its March session.