2  BIS Review 29/2010  principle that, in these rather unique conditions, competition for market share tends to push the average price up rather than down. What I’ve just set out is obviously not a complete description of the cards market.
But I think it captures those features that are particularly distinctive, and which raise at least the potential for concerns about efficiency and the adequacy of competition. With that background, I’ll turn now to the RBA’s involvement in card payments regulation.