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Public policy and the invisible price: competition law, regulation and the interchange fee

06 May 2005

Paper for the international payments policy conference, Santa Fe

Download Public policy and the invisible price: competition law, regulation and the interchange fee
(pdf 130 kb)

By Sir John Vickers
Chairman, Office of Fair Trading

The interchange fees set by the major credit card associations are among the most frequently paid prices in modern economies but are largely invisible to consumers.  In this paper Sir John explains why the level of interchange fees is potentially of public policy concern and discusses how competition policy, or regulation, might address it.

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