Revolut, Visa and Mastercard lose UK legal challenge over cross-border fee cap #
Revolut, Visa and Mastercard have lost a legal challenge at the UK High Court to block the country’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) from capping cross-border interchange fees charged on online transactions. The court ruled that the PSR has the statutory authority to impose a price cap on these fees, dismissing arguments from the payments firms that the regulator lacked that power. The proposed cap aims to address fees that have risen significantly since Brexit, impacting UK merchants selling to EU customers
The dispute centres on plans first consulted on in 2024, with the PSR citing fee increases — from roughly 0.2% to 1.15% for debit cards and 0.3% to 1.5% for credit cards — since the UK left the EU as evidence of market imbalance. Although the precise cap level and implementation timetable are yet to be decided, the ruling clears the way for the regulator to continue its reform process. The decision has been welcomed by UK regulators as boosting competition and fairness for businesses and consumers, while the payments companies have yet to publicly respond.