MasterCard accused of restricting competition

MASTERCARD is being investigated for fixing a minimum price retailers must pay for processing its MasterCard and Maestro cards, the European Commission announced.

It has 45% of the EU plastic card market which it dominates with Visa and which handled transactions worth more than €1,350 billion last year.

The Commission believes the way MasterCard sets fees restricts competition between banks and results in consumers paying more than they should for the service.