MasterCard has said that it has now agreed to halve the fees charged for transactions, but that this was only a temporary measure pending a court appeal. Xavier Durieu, secretary general of retailer lobby EuroCommerce, said: “This temporary settlement sends an extremely negative message to everyone in Europe. This decision is appalling and we count on the Commission to win the court appeal.”

Retailers have been outraged by these fees, and according to reports have claimed that domestic and cross border payment card transaction fees in Europe are amounting to around £11 billion a year. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “These fees are simply a hidden source of revenue for banks. MasterCard could not justify their level.”

MasterCard officials have said that the agreement to cut the fees on a temporary basis meant that the network could not invest in new products for consumers and retailers and could not sustain string competition within the payments industry in Europe. MasterCard Europe’s president, Javier Perez, said: “That is why these rates are only interim, and why we are pursuing our appeal in the European Court of First Instance.”

Neelie Kroes stated: “We will be monitoring implementation closely in coming months.” She added: “I have no intention that today’s announcement will allow Visa to benefit at the expense of MasterCard.”

Case Against MasterCard Dropped By European Union is a post from: Credit Cards Bureau

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It is thought that the credit card details came from a criminal gang in the Far East, and the list was recently obtained by a leading UK national newspaper. Full details were apparently found on the list, and this included the names, full credit card account details, and home address details of around nineteen thousand British cardholders. This included holders of Visa credit cards, MasterCard credit cards, and American Express credit cards.

The list could easily be found, accessed, and copied via the Internet according to industry officials. However, the payment clearance agency in the UK stated recently that many of the cards on the list had already expired, and many others had been stopped. Despite these reassurances, however, many consumers were still very worried that their home addresses and names had been published, putting them at increased risk of becoming victims of identity theft.

It was pointed out that many of those affected by the list had not been warned of the breach in security, and Nigel Evans, Conservative MP who is also chairman of the All Party Group on Identity Fraud, said: ‘This is hugely worrying. The credit card companies have a duty of care to inform all those involved that they are at risk of identity fraud.’

Details Of Thousand Of Credit Card Users Published On Internet is a post from: Credit Cards Bureau

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

An example of how this would work would be that when they used the Visa card, whatever carbon emission’s are gained from this purchase will be offset against something of the complete opposite, such as forestry or renewable energy.

Luc Janssen, who is head of Visa Commercial says “This new partnership means that we can offer members a ‘green’ payment capability across Europe that addresses the increasing demand for sustainable initiatives.  It is also easy for member banks to get involved as they won’t need to invest heavily in special back office functionality, as ClimaCount has that already in place.”

This new project for visa follows on from the Visa Greencard, which was launched into the consumer market over in Holland back in 2004.

Barclaycard are another company who are looking into this new area of the market and earlier this year launched the Breathe credit card where it is the customer who benefits.  Some of the benefits that the customers see are things such as discounts on home insulation, green energy and holidays in the UK which are done to encourage greener spending.  Along with this Barclaycard also give half of the products profits to various different environmental projects which aim at reducing emissions all over the globe.  Other credit card companies who have also produced similar products are the UK’s Co-operative Bank and Dutch banking group Rabobank. 

Recent Additions :

• Barclaycards Planning to Change
• Barclaycards Takeover of Discover Financial Services
• Looking For ‘Free’ Credit? 0% Purchase Credit Cards

Visa to Launch the Green Credit Card is a post from: Credit Cards Bureau

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.