policymakers demonstrate

Competition and Regulation in Markets for Goods and Services 203
or Asics) the main concern is if it could make economic sense for a supplier
not to allow some broader platform to offer their products. We turn next to a
description of some recent cases.
5.2.3 Some Recent Competition Cases
A number of high-profile competition cases have been recently examined or are
currently open in Europe and are related, directly or indirectly, to online trade
and similar issues. While the details in each case are different, online pricing
raises issues of possible abuse of a firm’s dominant position: a theme that often
emerges is that of pricing restrictions that tend to exclude some suppliers or
distributers, or tend to discriminate among categories of buyers.
MasterCard: Cross-border Rules and Inter-regional
Interchange Fees
In July 2015, the EC sent a Statement of Objections to MasterCard, expressing
the view that MasterCard’s rules prevent banks from offering lower interchange
fees to retailers based in other Member States, where interchange fees may
be higher. This follows a series of important previous actions on interchange
fees, while there is also an on-going investigation into Visa Inc.’s interregional
interchange fees policy. 17
According to the preliminary view of the EC, retailers cannot benefit from
lower fees in other areas and cross-border competition between banks may be
restricted. It is also stated that MasterCard’s interchange fees for transactions
in the EU using MasterCard cards issued in other regions of the world (e.g.,
in the US or Russia) breach European antitrust rules by setting an artificially
high minimum price for processing these transactions. It is further explained
that payments by card play a key role in the Single Market, both for domestic
purchases and for purchases across borders, or over the Internet. Banks use
MasterCard to set on their behalf the interchange fees that apply between them.
The Commission takes the preliminary view that the practices outlined violate
Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
that prohibits cartels and other anticompetitive business practices.
Two interrelated concerns were raised in the statement. First, interchange
fees vary considerably from one Member State to another. MasterCard’s rules
prevent retailers in a high-interchange fee country from benefitting from lower
interchange fees offered by an acquiring bank located in another Member State.
A second concern is about the high levels of MasterCard’s ‘inter-regional interchange
fees’. These fees are paid by an acquiring bank for transactions made
in the EU with cards issued in other regions of the world. High interregional
fees may increase prices for retailers and may in turn lead to higher prices for
products and services for all consumers, according to the EC.