Mastercard vice-chairman Anne Cairns in an interview to Press Association has said that the ban on credit card surcharge by the EU has increased card transactions.
She opined that the ban has helped the consumers as well as the credit card companies.
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Credit card surcharge bank drives transaction volumes
In January, EU implemented a new regulation that prevented the companies from charging the consumers for using credit cards and debit cards or PayPal.
“The elimination of (surcharges) has been fantastic for consumers and we’ve seen more transactions. It’s been hugely positive,” the news agency quoted Cairns as saying.
She also expressed confidence that the ban will continue even in a case on no-deal Brexit.
Recently, technical papers released by the UK government stated that the ban on surcharging will cease on cross-border payments between the UK and Europe, if the Brexit ends with no deal.
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By GlobalDataCommenting on the issue, Cairns said: “Consumers would make their preference heard.”
In 2015, the overall cross-border card charges amounted to £166m, according to the UK Treasury.
However, she expressed concerns over the recent increase of IT failure across the financial industry. Blaming old technology and upgrade failures for the IT meltdowns, Cairns opined that the industry is gradually improving.
She added that Mastercard invests ‘huge amount’ every year to prevent cyber crimes.
In June, Anne Cairns was appointed as the vice-chairman of Mastercard. Previously, she was the international president of the company.
