Visa and Mastercard Near Settlement with Merchants, Would Lower Fees, WSJ Reports

Visa and Mastercard are nearing a settlement with merchants by lowering fees stores pay and giving them more power to reject certain credit cards, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with matter.

Visa and Mastercard would trim interchange fees, typically 2% to 2.5% per transaction, by an average of about a tenth of a percentage point over several years, the Journal reported citing sources. The companies would also ease rules that currently require merchants accepting one network credit card type to accept all of them.

Mastercard and Visa declined a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The deal, which is expected soon, would divide credit-card acceptance into several categories such as rewards cards, no-rewards cards and commercial cards, under the current talks, the Journal reported.

The settlement aims to resolve a legal battle dating back to 2005.

Last year, the global payment technology companies agreed to an estimated $30 billion settlement to cap merchant card fees where the companies agreed to cut swipe rates by at least 0.04 percentage points for three years and keep the average rate seven basis points below the current level for five years.

Visa and Mastercard denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Merchants have long accused Visa and Mastercard of charging high swipe fees, or interchange fees, when shoppers used credit or debit cards, and barring them through "anti-steering" rules from directing customers toward cheaper means of payment.

The new settlement being discussed also would involve surcharging, the Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.