The letter of appeal was sent to several European commissioners at once, including those responsible for antitrust policy and the economy. It was signed by industry associations, which include companies such as Aldi, Amazon, Carrefour, H&M, Ikea, eBay and others.

As stated in the letter, from 2018 to 2022, international payment system fees increased by almost 34% — an average of 7.6% per year, not counting inflation. At the same time, retailers did not notice any improvements in service.

Against this backdrop, the EU is already discussing the possibility of introducing a digital euro to reduce dependence on American payment platforms. However, the legislative process is slow, causing discontent among some businesses and politicians.

The authors of the appeal call on the European Commission to introduce regulation of fees, oblige Visa and Mastercard to disclose the structure of their fees and introduce a mechanism for monitoring the actions of payment systems.

Visa responded by saying its fees reflect the value of the services it provides, including security and fraud protection. Mastercard did not comment.