Mastercard faces action in EU for artificially inflating costs of card payments

The European Union has fined global credit card giant Mastercard 570 million euros ($647 million) for hindering competition with banks offering cheaper payment fees. "By preventing merchants from shopping around for better conditions offered by banks in other member states, Mastercard's rules artificially raised the costs of card payments, harming consumers and retailers," competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.