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A coalition of Europe’s largest retailers is calling on the European Commission to clamp down on Visa and Mastercard over what they describe as opaque, inflation-exceeding fees that hinder competition and innovation in the payments market.
Retail giants urge Brussels to fees
In a joint letter sent on 13 May to top EU policymakers, including Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera and Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, the group accuses the two dominant card schemes – often referred to as International Card Schemes (ICS) – of leveraging their market power to unilaterally raise fees without regulatory oversight or market discipline.
The letter was co-signed by prominent trade bodies including EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe, Independent Retail Europe, the European Association of Corporate Treasurers, and the European Digital Payments Industry Alliance.
According to the signatories, Visa and Mastercard currently process approximately two-thirds of all card payments within the euro area.
The letter cites findings from a 2024 Brattle Group report which revealed that ICS fees increased by nearly 34% between 2018 and 2022 – an annual rise of 7.6% over and above inflation – with no commensurate improvement in service quality for merchants or consumers.
“ICS have been able to increase their fees without competitive challenge or regulatory scrutiny,” the letter states.
“They have also rendered their system of fees and rules so complex and opaque that players are unable to understand, let alone challenge, what they are paying for and why.”
The letter calls on the European Commission to use its antitrust powers to investigate ICS practices, modify existing regulations on interchange fees by introducing pricing caps, and impose new transparency and non-discrimination obligations on card networks.
Retailers are also urging the Commission to develop a regulatory tool that would allow ongoing scrutiny of ICS decisions.
Visa, in a statement responding to the allegations, defended its fee structures, arguing they reflect “high levels of security, fraud prevention, operational resilience and innovation” delivered to stakeholders across the payment ecosystem.
Mastercard has yet to comment publicly on the matter.
The retailers’ campaign reflects broader anxieties within the EU about the bloc’s dependence on non-European payment networks.
This concern has already spurred initiatives such as the European Payments Initiative (EPI), which aims to provide a competitive European alternative through its Wero digital wallet, and the European Central Bank’s digital euro project, which remains mired in legislative complexity and technical design debates.
With the digital euro progressing slowly and EPI’s commercial viability still uncertain, European merchants appear to be growing restless.
The latest appeal to Brussels is as much a call for immediate regulatory relief as it is a broader demand for strategic payments sovereignty.
Notably, the letter is supported by major retailers and payment providers including Amazon, Carrefour, Ikea, H&M, Worldline, Nexi and Teya – underscoring the depth of concern across both digital commerce and traditional retail sectors.
As the Commission reviews its approach to retail payments, the mounting pressure from retailers may force a policy reckoning.
Whether Brussels can rebalance the market without destabilising existing infrastructure remains to be seen, but the message from Europe’s merchants is clear: the status quo is no longer acceptable.
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