New York: Global payments networks Visa and Mastercard have unveiled plans to increase fees for merchants while accepting credit cards, Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The US paper citing sources familiar with the development said the fees are expected to be increased in October and April. Majority of the increases are for purchases using online system.
A merchant has to pay an interchange fee to the relevant bank every time when the customer uses the card. Normally the merchants pass on the fees to the customers.
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However, a Mastercard spokesperson rejected the WSJ story. He added there are no changes to Mastercard interchange fees.
According to the WSJ report Mastercard, Visa and big banks use interchange fees to prevent frauds and make innovation in the payment systems. It said the banks compensate these fees by giving credit cards rewards to the customers.
Mastercard charges a fee of 1.3% on every transaction while Visa charges 1.1%.
