Introduction
The European (EU) MIF (Merchant Interchange Fee) Regulation 215/751 of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees for card-related payment transactions is intended, among other purposes, to abolish the monopoly of the domestic brand: consumers must be able to choose between paying with their Visa, Mastercard or CB cards.
- The merchant to choose the preferred brand that will be offered to buyers during the payment.
- The cardholder to have the choice of card brand (i.e. the network used for the transaction).
Thus, for CB cards co-branded VISA or MASTERCARD for example, the buyer will have the choice between the French CB network and the international VISA or MASTERCARD networks.
A co-branded card is a card that includes two payment companies.
Examples
- CB + VISA or ELECTRON or VPAY
- CB + MASTERCARD or MAESTRO
Note
Each time an authorization uses the Visa and MasterCard international networks, the merchant may have to pay extra fees that will be transferred to the used network (depending on the commissioning methods of the merchant’s acquirer contract).