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NRF fighting against credit card fees

December 20, 2007

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Washington, D.C.—The National Retail Federation(NRF) is calling for MasterCard to withdraw hidden fees charged to process credit card transactions, a practice that costs consumers $40 billion annually in the United States.

The NRF's declaration follows a ruling by the European Commission (EC) that hidden fees charged by MasterCard are in violation of EC rules and must be withdrawn within six months.

"European authorities say MasterCard is double dipping in Europe, and that's exactly what we think both MasterCard and Visa are doing here in the U.S.," NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said in a media release. "Visa and MasterCard are charging billions of dollars directly to consumers for all the fees that show up on their monthly statements, then they turn around and charge billions more from the hidden credit card fees they force merchants to include in the price of the merchandise."

The EC ruled on Wednesday that MasterCard's "interchange" fees violate EC Treaty rules. MasterCard must withdraw the fees within six months and can replace them only if they can show the fees contribute to technical and economic progress and benefit consumers.

If MasterCard does not comply, the EC will levy fines equivalent to 3.5 percent of global revenue.

In the United States, the NRF has been leading the charge against interchange fees, arguing before the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force earlier this year that collusion between banks when setting the fees has violated U.S. antitrust law.
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