The Competition Authority received a request from Valitor hf. for an exemption from the prohibition on consultation in Article 10 of the Competition Act. The company requested that the Competition Authority approve the introduction of a so-called harmonised interchange fee on the domestic market for payment card transactions. The interchange fee is a payment from the acquirer on behalf of the merchant (e.g. shops) to the credit card issuers (banks and savings banks). The payment is said to be for the services that card issuers provide to merchants for transactions where credit cards are used as a means of payment. In determining No. 62/2008 On 15 December 2008, the Competition Authority concluded that the conditions of the competition law for an exemption from the prohibition on price-fixing were not met and therefore rejected this request from Valitor.
Valitor appealed the Competition Authority's decision to the Competition Appeals Board, demanding that the authority's decision be overturned on the grounds that a harmonised fee did not constitute an illegal cartel. Alternatively, the company requested that the appeal board grant the exemption which the Competition Authority had refused to grant. The Competition Appeal Board has now upheld the Authority's decision. The panel's ruling points out that the payment card issuers are competitors. Instead of each issuer setting the relevant interchange fee on its own, they entrusted Valitor with harmonising this fee, and this constitutes an illegal and anti-competitive price-fixing agreement. The Appeals Board also finds in its ruling that the conditions for an exemption under competition law are not met, and specifically notes that it is in no way apparent that Valitor has demonstrated that consumer interests under competition law are protected.
See the decision of the Appeals Committee No. 1/2009.
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