The European Court of Justice has finally backed retailers’ campaign for a competitive payments system saving UK business £1 billion a year.

The ruling is targeted to support on-going developments in regulation of the interchange fees charged by banks, which is expected to benefit UK businesses of all sizes.

"Capping these excessive and anti-competitive fees will support the UK retail industry and others, boosting our ability to invest and innovate while continuing to deliver lower prices and value for customers." - Helen Dickinson BRC Director General

 

 

As retailers look onwards from this decision it’s hoped that this comes soon enough to compete with foreign markets that have reacted to retail pressure sooner. The ruling comes as the EU prepares to place a cap on all interchange fees of 0.3% of the value of a credit-card transaction, and 0.2% or €0.07, whichever is lower, for a debit-card transaction.

Chief executives representing a third of UK retail sales recently spoke out to the new Payment Systems Regulator saying.

 “These excessive costs cannot be allowed to continue to delay the introduction of effective competition in the banking sector, to the detriment of businesses both large and small,”

With pressure coming from a sizeable portion of British retail, action will hopefully be swift to catch up with the more progressive EU rulings.