Realising the benefits of competitive markets: strengthening the Competition Appeal Tribunal
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Realising the benefits of competitive markets: strengthening the Competition Appeal Tribunal
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Competition Appeal Tribunal rules all types of Interchange Fees breach competition law
Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has secured a victory for thousands of UK and European merchants. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has held that Visa and Mastercard's Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) were an infringement of UK and Irish competition law.
MIFs are payable by merchants on all debit and credit cards. They are not negotiated by the bank which administers the payment, but instead imposed by Visa and Mastercard on acquiring banks, which then pass the cost down to merchants.
The CAT was highly critical of MIFs – in its ruling on 27 June 2025 – finding that they were 'without justification', and that they have infringed competition law by effect since the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) came into effect in December 2015.
The Umbrella Proceedings are ongoing, with judgment expected on Trial 2 (concerning the pass-on of the MIF from acquirers to merchants and from merchants to consumers) in due course. A third trial, which will determine if the card schemes are able to rely on exemption from competition law under Article 101(3), will also take place in the future if the card schemes don't settle all other claims against them.
"We are pleased to have secured this judgment," said Genevieve Quierin, Partner at Stephenson Harwood. "Visa and Mastercard have long penalised merchants and this victory will be a great boost for UK and European merchants, and for the retail and hospitality sectors which have been hard hit by external factors in recent years."
The team was led by partners Genevieve Quierin and Donna Newman, supported by Partner Adam Polonsky, Managing Associate Chris Pettett, Associates Alex Athanasopoulos, Marcus Watkinson, Peter Sequeira, Kirk Goodway and Project Manager Rabia Ramputh, together with many other trainees, paralegals and support staff.