Credit card company Mastercard has agreed to reduce its inter-bank fees in the Netherlands following pressure from the Dutch consumers’ authority and retailers.

At the moment, the inter-bank fee is 0.9% over each purchase paid by credit card. This is being reduced to 0.7% in June and will go down again to 0.3% in January 2016, the consumer authority said in a statement.

However, David Dechamps of Mastercard Benelux told Nos television the cut will benefit shopkeepers but the consumers may face extra costs. For example, banks may make cards more expensive to offset the effect of the cuts, he is quoted as saying.

Brussels

Credit cards are not widely accepted in the Netherlands because shopkeepers are angered by the high fees they have to pay.

The Dutch retailers’ association Detailhandel Nederland has also called on politicians to try to end the dominant position held by MasterCard and Visa.

Brussels is also proposing a limit of up to 0.3% of the purchase price for credit card payments.