Assessing the impact of the MIF Regulation interchange fee caps
The European Regulation on Interchange Fees for Card-based Payments (or the MIF Regulation for short) came into effect in December 2015. Comprised of four main areas—interchange fee caps, acquirer pricing transparency, the separation of card schemes and processing, and other supporting rules—the regulation will have a profound impact upon the European payments industry and has the potential to reshape the eCommerce payments landscape. No area, however, is poised to cause more of a commotion than the interchange fee caps. Acquirers, card issuers, and payment service providers are all affected, but the impact of interchange fee caps—and what it means for their businesses—varies considerably.
