MasterCard faces anti-trust probe over cross-border fees

MasterCard Inc faces an EU anti-trust probe into bank fees on foreign card payments such as when tourists go shopping in the 27-nation bloc.

The European Commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, said it opened a probe into possible “competition distortions” in interbank arrangements on fees and other practices at a time when European consumers and businesses are making more than 40% of their non-cash payments a year by card. Preventing such violations is a priority, it said.

“Such fees apply, for example, when a US tourist uses his MasterCard credit card to make a purchase” in Europe, the commission said yesterday. Charges for processing foreign payment are much higher than for ones made with cards from within the EU, said spokesman Antoine Colombani.