EC investigation of payment card interchange fee

Advised Visa Europe in connection with an EU Article 101 investigation into the determination of the multilateral interchange fee for credit and debit card payments in Europe. The analysis involved design and implementation of consumer and merchant surveys of the cost of cash and card transactions throughout the EU; analysis of the benefits of cards for consumers and merchants; and economic analysis of consumers’ response to credit card surcharges. The analysis was used to estimate an efficient level of card interchange fees and evaluation of the effects on consumer behavior of the introduction of payment card surcharges.