They included: •  A weighted average cap on interchange fees of 50 basis points  •  An access regime for credit card schemes, and  •  Removal of no-surcharge rules imposed by the schemes. Subsequently a package of reforms for debit cards was introduced in 2006.
The thinking behind these regulatory measures was heavily focused on the efficiency of price signals to consumers. Interchange fees and surcharging rules were at the heart of this, and it is not surprising that they remain central to the current review. The Board’s early work recognised that interchange fees play an important role in influencing the incentives to use particular payment instruments.