Visa Europe said Wednesday that it plans to go to Hungary's Constitutional Court to appeal a bill passed in December by the Hungarian parliament that restricts bank card transaction commissions.
"We were not only surprised by the decision, but also by the speed at which the legislation was approved," said Mark Antipof, Visa Europe's managing director of growth and emerging markets.
Capping commission fees is unprecedented in Europe and will inhibit use of payment cards in the country, Antipof said.
In Hungary, an overly cash-oriented society, the number of point of sale Visa card transactions rose 12% last year, to 61 million, driven by debit card transactions, the company said.
Visa Europe is a bank-owned consortium that has licensed Visa Inc.'s name.
