EU says MasterCard May Have Broken Antitrust Rules

Mastercard?s on the couch as far as the European Union?s concerned. The international credit card company may have violated European Union antitrust rules by restricting competition between banks, according to a Reuters story. In response, the EU sent a supplementary statement of objections (SO) to the company on June 23. This was only a preliminary document; the Commission had yet to decide if MasterCard had broken EU rules.

“In its SO, the Commission takes the preliminary view that MasterCard restricts competition between member banks by pre-determining a minimum price retailers must pay for accepting MasterCard and Maestro branded payment cards,” the statement said.

“The Commission’s preliminary view is that such behaviour is contrary to the EC Treaty’s ban on restrictive business practices.?

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