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Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard’s (NYSE:MA) default multilateral interchange fees came under fire Friday after London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled they violate European antitrust law, in a big win for the hundreds of merchants who filed complaints about such “excessive” fees.
The tribunal held the liability phase of the case early last year. A separate decision on whether retailers passed any of the alleged excess charges on to consumers is still to come.
V and MA’s multilateral interchange fees are charges that stores have to pay to card-issuing banks every time a customer transacts.
The payment network giants disagreed with the U.K. court’s decision and planned to seek permission to appeal, Reuters reported, citing company spokespeople.
The merchants were represented by law firm Scott + Scott in the case.
Meanwhile, in midafternoon trading, shares of MA and V gained 1% and 0.9%, respectively.
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