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New Zealand's Commerce Commission this week struck a deal with MasterCard Worldwide that places restrictions on interchange rates and enables merchants to assess surcharges on credit card transactions. The deal, which applies to credit card transactions, mirrors a deal Visa Inc. and the commission announced earlier this month (CardLine Global, 14 Aug.). The deals generally are unfavorable to the card companies and come amid similar regulatory pressures on Visa and MasterCard from authorities in Europe and the United States. The MasterCard deal in New Zealand, as with the earlier one with Visa, allows issuers to "individually set the interchange rates that will apply to transactions using their credit cards, subject to maximum rates determined by MasterCard," the commission says in a statement. Merchants can charge customers more for using credit cards as long as those surcharges are disclosed and "bear a reasonable relationship to the merchant's costs of accepting MasterCard products," the commission says. Additionally, MasterCard must permit nonbank organizations or companies "who might wish to provide acquiring services to merchants" to join its network "if they meet relevant financial and prudential criteria." Mark Berry, commission chairman, said in a statement the agreement will "boost competition in the provision of credit card services to retailers in New Zealand." Immediate comment from MasterCard was not available. The agreement requires MasterCard to pay NZ$3 million (US$2.1 million or 1.4 million euros) to cover the commission's cost of the case. MasterCard must make the payment by 15 Sept. The agreement does not "constitute an admission by MasterCard of any wrongful conduct or liability," the commission says in its ruling.
