VISA and Mastercard to Raise Fees in April

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Visa and Mastercard will raise fees in April. Increases on interchange fees, which retailers pay their banks when accepting a card transaction, and fees that the banks pay to Visa and Mastercard for processing payments, will also increase.

The companies justify the increases by claiming security measures must be enhanced to prevent fraud and theft, and they continue to point out that retailers receive more sales if they accept card payments. Yet both saw 33 percent increases in their fourth quarter 2018 net income as compared to Q4 of 2017.

Increasing fees could also cover the cost of the $6.25 billion settlement the companies face after losing a U.S. antitrust case. Although that money had supposedly already been set aside, fees may be increased to also offset costs of antitrust investigations in Europe.

Visa and Mastercard make up an oligopoly and the fees the two companies charge are growing. PMAA continues to call for an end to price fixing by Visa and MasterCard and the card issuing banks.