MasterCard has lost a decade-long legal battle with European Union at the European Court of Justice over the validity of its interchange fees for cross-border card payments.
The ruling comes after MasterCard appealed a 2012 judgment by the General Court in Luxembourg, the EU’s second-highest court, which backed the commission’s decision.
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The court ruled that the fees had unfairly restricted competition and that MasterCard failed to show benefits of the fees to justify its system.
However, MasterCard will not be penalized by the EU as a result of judgment as it notified the Commission of its practices in 1992.
Commenting on the ruling, MasterCard Europe’s president Javier Perez said that while the ruling was "disappointing," it "will have little or no impact on how MasterCard operates" because it has been complying with EU limits on cross-border fees of 0.2% for debit card payments and 0.3% for credit cards.
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By GlobalData
