When making payments with debit cards, fees such as interchange fees apply. Weko and Mastercard have mutually agreed on an interchange fee of 0.12 percent for domestic in-store transactions, Weko announced on Thursday.

Two investigations launched last year

The competition authorities launched two investigations in June of last year to find long-term solutions for the domestic interchange fees of Visa and Mastercard debit cards.

A mutual solution was quickly reached with Mastercard. For domestic in-store transactions, meaning when the debit card is physically used at the point of sale, Weko allows a rate of 0.12 percent, combined with a cap of 30 centimes for transaction amounts of 300 francs, which corresponds to an average rate of 0.1 percent. «This is significantly lower than the rate of 0.2 percent provided by European regulation,» Weko noted in its statement.

According to Weko, the mutual agreement aims to provide legal certainty for all parties involved. The new regulation can therefore only be terminated in 2033.

Investigation against Visa continues

For domestic online payments and payments with mobile devices (e-commerce and m-commerce), a rate of 0.31 percent applies until October 31, 2025, based on earlier proceedings. Before the investigation, the competition authorities agreed with Mastercard that this rate will be reduced to 0.28 percent starting November 1, 2025.

This solution applies only to all Mastercard debit cards.

«While the Competition Commission can close the «Mastercard» case, the investigation into the domestic interchange fees for in-store transactions with Visa debit cards continues. The present mutual agreement should not have any prejudicial effect.