18 June 2015: Bank Cards

Extension of the commitments made by the Groupement des Cartes Bancaires (CB Bank Cards Group) to the Autorité de la concurrence regarding the level of inter-bank payment fees until the European regulation comes into force.

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In 2011, within the context of the examination by the Autorité de la concurrence of inter-bank fees associated with card payments, the GIE CB¹ made several commitments, including one to decrease the inter-bank payment fee by 36% (see decision 11-D-11 of 7 July 2011 and press release).

This commission, paid by the retailer’s bank to the cardholder’s bank on each transaction by CB card, was decreased from 0.47% to 0.28% on average (excluding the TBTB - Taux Bilatéral des Transactions Bloquées [Bilateral Rate for Blocked Transactions] – which represents the cost of the payment guarantee). This commitment, undertaken for a 4-year period, was due to end on 7 July 2015.

The European Regulation of 29 April 2015

Subsequent to the Autorité de la concurrence’s decision, the European regulation of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees in particular sets the maximum amount for inter-bank fees on card payments at 0.3% per transaction for credit cards (deferred debit cards or cards with a credit line) and 0.2% for debit cards (immediate debit cards)². These provisions are due to come into force on 9 December 2015.

Extension of commitments

In order to ensure the transition between the ending of GIE’s commitments on 7 July 2015 and the regulation’s entry into force on 9 December 2015, the GIE will continue to apply the inter-bank fee rate negotiated with the Autorité de la Concurrence in 2011, namely 0.28% of the transaction amount (excluding TBTB) until 9 December next.

The Autorité welcomes this extension which makes it possible to ensure, over the transitional period, stability and legal certainty to the GIE CB, to banks and retailers, and more generally to consumers.

¹ The GIE CB network includes over 130 banking players. The members of its management board are Crédit Agricole, Crédit mutuel, Carrefour Banque, Banque Accord, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, La Banque Postale, HSBC and BPCE.

² For countries, like France, that do not yet make a distinction between credit and debit cards, the maximum amount is set at 0.23% until 9 December 2016, to allow them to adapt. In addition, in order to allow retailers to favour the least costly cards (debit or credit), the regulation provides for prohibiting any obligation to accept all types of card (credit and debit), as of June 2016.


> Note that since 2010, the Autorité de la concurrence has obtained significant decreases in inter-bank fees.

Here is a summary table of current inter-bank fees.

 > Press contact : Rebecca Hébert / Tel. : +33 (0)1 55 04 01 81 / Email