BUDAPEST -(Dow Jones)- Bank card firm Visa Europe plans to appeal to Hungary's Constitutional Court against a bill passed in December by the Hungarian parliament that limits bank card transaction commissions, Visa Europe's Managing Director of Growth and Emerging Markets Mark Antipof said Wednesday.
"We were not only surprised by the decision, but also by the speed at which the legislation was approved," Antipof told reporters.
Capping commission fees is unprecedented in Europe and will limit the spread of bank card usage in the country, Antipof said, as it not only hurts accepting banks but indirectly also retailers and cardholders.
In a separate case, the company is waiting for a court reaction to its appeal against a cartel charge by Hungary's competition authority GVH, Antipof said. " We believe that we have a strong case," he added.
The GVH levied in September 2009 a combined 1.9-billion-forint ($10.49 million) fine on Visa Europe, MasterCard and seven Hungarian commercial banks for setting commission rates, thus limiting competition. Visa Europe was fined HUF477 million.
In Hungary, an overly cash-oriented society, the number of point-of-sale Visa card transactions was up 12% to 61 million in 2009 from a year earlier, driven by debit card transactions, Country Manager Kurt Trojner said. Average spending per transaction was higher via debit cards than through credit cards, which is a Hungarian specialty, Trojner added.
Company Web site: www.visaeurope.com
-By Veronika Gulyas, Dow Jones Newswires; +361-267-0623 +361-267-0623; veronika.gulyas@ dowjones.com