Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Interchange Fees in Card Payments
Posted by D. Daniel Sokol
Ann Borestam, European Central Bank (ECB) and Heiko Schmiedel, European Central Bank - Securities Settlement Systems Policy Division have written on Interchange Fees in Card Payments.
ABSTRACT: The present paper explores issues surrounding multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) in payment card markets from various angles. The Eurosystem’s public stance on interchange fees is neutral. However, the Eurosystem takes a keen interest in facilitating a constructive dialogue among the stakeholders involved in this debate. Transparency and clarity with respect to the real costs and benefi ts of different payment instruments are indispensable for a modern and harmonised European retail payments market. Interchange fees (if any) should be set at a reasonable level so as to promote overall economic effi ciency in compliance with competition rules.
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/antitrustprof_blog/2011/11/interchange-fees-in-card-payments.html