Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of rising transaction fees for non-European Economic Area cards on small businesses in (a) the Highlands and (b) other tourist areas; and whether her Department has plans to take steps to reduce those transaction fees.

The Government is committed to promoting competition in the payments sector and recognises the importance of ensuring the fees charged for card payments are fair for all parties, including merchants.

Card transaction fees are made up of different components. These include interchange fees paid to card issuers, and scheme and processing fees paid to the card scheme operators. Domestic interchange fees are capped under law and the Payment Systems Regulator is responsible for enforcing these caps.

The PSR also has a broader programme of work to review aspects of card fees and assess whether the markets are working well, including for merchants. For example, earlier this year, the PSR published the interim findings of its investigation review into recent increases in scheme and processing fees, which can be found here.