Payments news picked up quickly on the news that EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Monday her staff would take a close look at some of Visa's business practices and interchange fee next year, when an antitrust exemption for the credit card company runs out. Now that at the end of the year a previous exemption ends, the Commission feels it is time to reconsider its stance. Mastercard is already under investigation by the way.
So, will this the dog really bite?
Perhaps it will and perhaps interchange fees will be re-assessed (or further lowered), but politicians should realize that this sort of gallery play would only lead to more visible price hikes for the consumers. Which will demonstrate to the public that Europe (and pro-active European thinking) will make life more expensive. And I am not sure if that is a message one would like to send out in times of constitutional crisis...
