Visa hikes fees for credit and debit cards

VISA, the international provider of ‘plastic’, is raising its fees for purchases made by British customers from most of Europe – triggering fears of higher prices and arguments Brexit has added to the cost of EU trade.

The payments giant plans to increase ‘interchange fees’ for credit cards to 1.5% and for debit cards to 1.15%; roughly a five-fold leap in costs.

It will hit online transactions for UK card holders with EU-based companies and will particularly effect retail, hospitality and travel.

Interchange payments are levied every time a card is used for a payment; with money passed on to the card-issuing bank.

Visa, the biggest issuer of debit cards in the UK, will notify client banks and the regulator of its proposal. The move would bring it in line with Mastercard, the rival payments group, which has already announced a spike in fees.