According to a draft emergency ordinance published by the Finance Ministry, card issuer banks would not be allowed to charge inter-bank fees exceeding 0.2% of the transaction value for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards.
The government also plans to introduce minimum clauses in the contracts between banks that place ATMs or operate electronic payments and retailers, so that companies would be informed on the exact commissions and fees for each transaction.
According to the draft, inter-bank fees act as a minimum price, determining, to a great extent (70%-80%) the price paid by retailers for accepting the card, which, in its turn, is transferred to consumers.
In Romania, inter-bank fees established in Visa and MasterCard systems are among the highest in Europe.
The Finance Ministry said that the European Commission also drew up a bill on the cut of inter-bank fees for cross-border transactions to 0.2% from the value of the transaction for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards, while in two years from its implementation, the fees would also be applied for local transactions with credit and debit cards.
In the case of Romania, the inter-bank fee for card payments is the result of a multilateral agreement between banks holding 98% of the local cards market, and represents 0.5% + 2.50 lei (EUR0.58) for ATM transactions, in which the fee is paid by the issuer bank to the acquiring bank (owner of the ATM), and 1.00 % (standard), 1.50 % (e-commerce), and 0.7% (oil) for POS transactions, in which the fee is paid by the acquiring bank to the issuer bank.
Thus, the fees would be significantly cut, between 50% and 90%, following the implementation of the draft.
According to the Finance Ministry, the inter-bank fees stayed unchanged between 1996 and 2011 despite the changes in the living standard, while the regulation of inter-bank fees would be beneficial for retailers, consumers, issuer banks, the public sector and the economy.
Currently, Visa and Mastercard have different inter-bank fees, so that issuer banks might transfer clients from Visa to MasterCard in order to get higher fees from acquiring banks, according to the draft.
According to the draft, the higher level of card usage would reduce tax evasion and hinder underground economy.