$600m in annual tourist spend at risk from regulation: Mastercard

Tourists may face unexplained card failures if interchange fees are set too low. (Image: Supplied)

Fri, 27 Jun 2025

International credit card issuer Mastercard fears as much as $600 million of foreign tourist spending in New Zealand will be foregone if the Commerce Commission regulates bank interchange fees to sub-commercial levels.ComCom is due to issue its final determination on whether to cap interchange fees at 0.2% of transaction value by mid-July.If foreign tourists in NZ followed the pattern seen when a similar restriction was imposed in Europe, declined transactions on foreign-issued credit cards could be worth as much as $600m a year.‘An incre...

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