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“We believe the best way forward would be to reach a new agreement with the Commission”, a Visa Europe spokesman said last Wednesday reacting to the formal investigation into Visa's fee system last month. “We see no evidence that Visa Europe’s interchange has acted as a tax on consumption or has caused consumers to pay twice.”
“The net result of a substantial reduction in interchange would see a disproportionate shift in the costs of the card payments system from retailers to consumers”, he said. “Interchange is a mechanism for ensuring the maximum benefit to all who use card payment systems”.
“Interchange fees set at a fair level ensure the effective operation of card payment systems and enable the replacement of inefficient payments like cash and cheques. Fees must be set at commercially viable levels, so that the industry can justify its continued investment in innovation, security and payment efficiency, as the Commission has recognised. This will assist in achieving the SEPA vision of an internal market in card payments.