Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to concerns by retailers regarding the proposed increased fee for the use of debit cards which are to be introduced from next year (details supplied); if this arrangement has been sanctioned by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45943/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the Deputy is referring to charges imposed on merchants by acquirers (in point-of-sale transactions, the entity (usually a bank) to which the acceptor (usually a merchant) transmits the information necessary in order to process the card payment) for the use of debit cards at the point of sale which are issued by certain international card schemes, and not the fees currently being charged for the use of Laser Card (which is an Irish-based debit card scheme managed by the Irish Payment Services Organisation on behalf of those Irish banks that operate the Laser Card Scheme). These charges include fees for items such as terminal rental, customer services, and dispute resolution services. They are a function of and are determined by the interchange fees set by the payment card schemes for the participating acquirers. Interchange fees are paid by the merchant's acquirer to the cardholder's bank every time a payment card is used. For debit cards, it is usually a small flat fee. While interchange fee levels vary depending on the type of payment card, the purpose is to reflect the real operating costs.

The European Commission's sectoral inquiry into retail banking in 2005 and 2006 found that interchange fee agreements in place at the time had the potential to act as an obstacle to a more cost-efficient payment cards industry and to the creation of a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The European Commission subsequently launched anti-trust investigations against the interchange fees charged by the two largest international card issuers within the European Union. These investigations resulted in reduced interchange fees being put in place by both companies.

As Minister for Finance, I do not have any role in the regulation of such fees as they are a commercial matter between the given card scheme, the acquirer and their customers, however a list of interchange fees set by the international card schemes is available on those schemes' websites, as required by the European Central Bank.