Policy & Regulation

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United States-based auction Web site owner eBay Inc. Monday postponed a mandate scheduled to begin today that would allow only PayPal, eBay's payment service, as an online-payment option on the company's Australian Web site (CardLine Global, 16/6). In a statement, eBay says it will continue to challenge the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision last week to delay the mandate while the commission investigates whether it is anticompetitive. EBay says it is "disappointed that the [commission's] current view delays the opportunity to provide consumers a more-secure way to shop on eBay.com.au with confidence." EBay intends to work with the commission and hopes to achieve an outcome "which has the safety and security of eBay's members as its paramount objective," the company says in a statement. EBay says it will delay the removal of other payment methods from the site until 15 July. The company declined further comment when contacted by CardLine Global.

United Kingdom-based payments-network provider PayPoint plc Monday announced it has secured a new credit and debit card interchange agreement with UK-based Lloyds TSB Group plc to enable its affiliated retailers to pay a maximum of 1.4% on credit card payments and a flat fee of 14 pence per debit card payment. PayPoint's terminals accept payments for gas and electricity bills, mobile phone top-ups, and transportation tickets. PayPoint has more than 19,800 terminals in such UK and Irish shops as Spar, Costcutter, Sainsburys Local, One Stop and Londis.

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Visa Europe will keep its cross-border interchange rates as is, even though MasterCard Europe, facing hefty fines from European regulators, said Thursday it would "temporarily repeal" its rates while continuing its appeal of the regulators' decision. "The announcement has no impact in Visa Europe's interchange," Visa said in a statement issued Friday. "We are in ongoing talks with the European Commission about how we (will) set our interchange in the future, and these continue." The commission is investigating Visa Europe's interchange and card practices. In December, it gave MasterCard six months to lower its rates or face paying daily fines amounting to 3.5% of global revenues. Regulators say the rates are anticompetitive. On Friday, Visa Europe repeated that it hoped to reach agreement with the commission. But one analyst questioned how much negotiating power Visa has in the wake of MasterCard's interchange decision. "The way the situation is evolving, it's clear that MasterCard and Visa have little leverage over the [commission]," Gwenn Bézard, senior analyst for the Aite Group, a United States-based consultancy, tells CardLine Global. "It's not good news for Visa." Meanwhile, European retailers welcomed MasterCard's decision to repeal its rates. "This signals a major victory in the battle against this hidden taxation of purchasing, which will bring significant benefits to consumers and retailers," retail trade association EuroCommerce said in a statement issued Friday.

United States-based auction Web site eBay Inc. says it is reviewing a directive from Australian competition authorities that delays company plans to mandate PayPal, eBay's payment service, as the only online-payment option on the company's Australian Web site, a spokesperson tells CardLine Global. EBay officials worked through Thursday night to "digest the information," the spokesperson says. "We will make further comment following the review process," the spokesperson says. On Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was determining if eBay's mandate is anticompetitive (CardLine Global, 13 June). The mandate was scheduled to start Tuesday.

MasterCard Europe has "temporarily repealed" its interchange rates that European regulators say violate antitrust rules, the card company said Thursday. The action applies to cross-border interchange merchant acquirers pay card issuers when customers use cards carrying the MasterCard or Maestro debit brands. On 19 Dec. 2007, the European Commission ordered MasterCard to lower the rates within six months or face daily fines amounting to 3.5% of global revenues. On 1 March, MasterCard filed an appeal with the European Court of First Instance. The card organization is continuing that appeal, though MasterCard does not expect a judgment until "the second half of 2010," a MasterCard spokesperson tells CardLine Global. The interchange rates average 1% of the sale for MasterCard-branded cards and 0.5% for Maestro-branded cards, the spokesperson says. "MasterCard believes its cross-border interchange system has kept the cost of payment cards low for cardholders," Javier Perez, MasterCard Europe president, says in a statement. In March, the European Commission said it was investigating the interchange rates applied to Visa card transactions in Europe and the card organization's rule that merchants must accept all Visa-branded cards regardless of the issuer or type of transaction. Visa said it expects to reach a "negotiated settlement" with regulators (CardLine Global, 3 April).

Australian authorities have told online auction company eBay Inc. to delay plans to mandate PayPal, eBay's payment service, as the only online-payment option on the company's Australian site. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating whether the rule is anticompetitive. EBay has said that buyers and sellers are less likely to dispute transactions routed through PayPal than transactions routed through bank accounts. The commission says it will wait for a response from eBay and other interested parties before making a final decision. EBay did not return a CardLine Global request for comment. EBay has created a two-step process to enable Australian sellers to ready themselves to accept either PayPal or cash on pickup, the commission says in a statement. As of 21 May, all sellers were required to offer PayPal as one of their accepted payment methods. The second step, scheduled to start Tuesday, would require that all transactions on eBay be paid either through PayPal or cash on pickup. The regulation bans direct deposits, money orders and personal checks as payment. The new policy "will substantially reduce competition to supply online-payment services to users of online marketplaces more generally," Commission Chairman Graeme Samuel says in a statement. Last month, the commission told CardLine Global that authorities also are concerned that eBay's mandate will result in higher PayPal sellers' fees (CardLine Global, 15 May).

CompuCredit Corp., the Atlanta-based subprime credit card issuer that was sued yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission and faces charges by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued a pointed response to the allegations by the federal agencies.

Credit card reform is emerging as a key issue on the campaign trail for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is touting industry reform at public appearances this week. Kicking off his general campaign in Raleigh, N.C. on Monday, Obama promised new laws to curb what he calls abusive credit card practices. At another stop on his two-week, cross-country tour, Obama met today in Chicago with hard-pressed borrowers and consumer advocates. Obama vowed legislation that would prohibit credit card issuers from retroactively raising cardholders' interest rates on balances without their approval. He also promised to establish a federal credit card-rating system to help inform consumers of credit card choices. Obama last fall introduced the Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2007 with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The legislation, which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, would create a federal five-star rating system for credit cards (CardLine, 11/28/07). Late last year on the campaign trail, Obama began advocating a Credit Card Bill of Rights that would crack down on issuers that use what some consider deceptive practices (CardLine, 12/5/07).