UK PSR provisionally finds Mastercard and Visa lack effective competition, causing UK businesses to pay higher transaction fees.

The UK's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has provisionally concluded that Mastercard and Visa, which account for 95% of transactions with UK-issued cards, do not face effective competition in the payments market, forcing UK businesses to pay higher fees to process transactions. The regulator is considering new rules for the two major players, but has stepped back from earlier suggestions that it might impose a price cap.