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New Zealand's Commerce Commission says it has signed separate interchange-related agreements with seven financial institutions in that country. The agreements with the financial institutions settle the commission's claims that the institutions, by implementing the credit card rules of Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide, reduced competition by inflating the cost to retailers to accept credit cards and ultimately raising prices paid by all consumers. The institutions include the Bank of New Zealand, TSB Bank and Westpac New Zealand Ltd. The banks will contribute a combined NZ$1 million (US$731,800 or 497,000 euros) to cover the costs to investigate the case, the commission adds. The agreements come after the regulatory agency struck a deal with MasterCard and Visa that allows issuers to "individually set [credit card] interchange rates that will apply to transactions using their credit cards, subject to maximum rates determined" by the card organizations, according to an earlier statement from the commission (CardLine Global, 26 Aug.). The deal with the card organizations also allows merchants to charge customers more for using credit cards as long as they disclose those surcharges. The changes in interchange rules could save retailers over the next three years between NZ$70 million and NZ$80 million, Mark Berry, commission chairman, said in a statement.
