MasterCard Inc. is under investigation by the European Union over the bank fees it charges on credit- and debit-card payments made by customers based outside the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission, the EU's competition watchdog, said it opened a probe into possible "competition distortions" in interbank arrangements on fees and other practices at a time when European consumers and businesses are making more than 40 percent of their non-cash payments a year by card. Preventing such violations is a priority, it said.
"Such fees apply for example when a U.S. tourist uses his MasterCard credit card to make a purchase" in Europe, the commission said in a statement today. Charges for processing foreign payment are much higher than for ones made with cards from within the EU, spokesman Antoine Colombani told reporters in Brussels.
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