By Ian Walker

The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator said that it believes Mastercard and Visa have likely raised cross-border interchange fees on credit and debit cards to an unduly high level, and provisionally plans to cap those fees.

The regulator said Wednesday that it estimates U.K. businesses paid an extra 150 million pounds to GBP200 million ($188.4 million to $251.3 million) due to the fee increases.

It said that the cap will protect U.K. businesses while is seeking views on its provisional findings and a proposed approach to remedies to help inform the final report.

"In this market review we have provisionally found that the fees charged by Mastercard and Visa to U.K. businesses which accept payments from within the EEA are likely too high. In short, at this stage, we do not think this market is working well," PSR Managing Director Chris Hemsley said.

The regulator has set a deadline of Jan. 31 for interested parties to comment on its provisional findings.

Visa and Mastercard didn't immediately respond when approached for comment.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2023 02:41 ET (07:41 GMT)

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