EU finds bank card issuers break antitrust law

BRUSSELS -- Banks issuing credit and debit cards are colluding to keep prices artificially high and restrict competitors, the European Commission charged Wednesday.

The commission report, while naming no specific offenders, vowed to open antitrust cases in coming months. In the meantime, it urged credit-card companies such as Visa International and MasterCard Inc. (MA) and the retail banks that issue these cards to take voluntary measures to bring down fees. But it does not demand specific reductions.

The commission already has long-running antitrust cases open against both Visa and MasterCard.

"Something is rotten in the state" of bank cards, said E.U. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, promising action against offending banks "as soon as possible." She could not "wait too long" because retailers and consumers "are being ripped off."

The commission's efforts to lower credit and bank-card fees are aimed at integrating the E.U.'s banking sector, which remains fragmented despite the advent of the euro. By 2010, the commission wants to have a framework to allow businesses and customers to make cross-border electronic payments as easily, and at the same cost as within their own country.

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