MEP Aurore Lalucq (S&D) has asked the European Commission whether it shares the assessment that opaque pricing by Visa and Mastercard exposes European merchants to unjustified cost increases and arbitrary billing practices, and whether it is considering a regulatory framework to cap scheme fees that circumvent the Interchange Fee Regulation. The written question, submitted on 17 June 2026, cites a UK Payment Systems Regulator study showing a 30% rise in merchant fees over five years, enabled by pricing opacity.
Lalucq's question targets the lack of transparency in fee-setting by the two dominant card schemes, which she argues leaves merchants vulnerable to unilateral and unpredictable increases as well as non-transparent penalties. She points to Article 31(a) of the proposed Payment Services Regulation (PSR), which would introduce new transparency rules and a future delegated act, and asks how the Commission intends to enforce compliance by international card schemes and shield merchants from non-compliance. The MEP also raises the direct impact on European consumers' purchasing power, suggesting that beyond transparency, the Commission should consider actively capping scheme fees that circumvent existing rules.
The question reflects a push for stronger EU-level intervention to protect merchants and consumers from what Lalucq frames as market power abuse by Visa and Mastercard. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks, and its answer will signal whether it plans to rely on the PSR's transparency provisions or pursue additional regulatory measures such as fee caps. The issue pits merchant and consumer interests against the business models of global payment networks, with potential implications for competition, pricing, and regulatory oversight in the EU payments sector.