The case against Visa

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) is preparing to check the work in Russia of the VISA International payment system. According to officials, the actions of the corporation are not in all complies with the legislation on competition in the financial services market. Experts believe that the interest of the FAS in VISA can be caused by two reasons - the machinations of competitors and the unfair policy of the payment system itself.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service next week should prepare materials for initiating a case against the VISA International International Payment System. According to the deputy head of the department Andrei Kashevarov, the FAS has every reason to believe that the actions of Visa International do not quite comply with the legislation on competition in the financial services market. “The share of Visa in this market is definitely higher than 40%. We discovered some circumstances of entry into the system of new banks that do not comply with the laws, but this must be proved, ”said Kashevarov to the newspaper. “There is already an internal decision on initiating a case against Visa.”

According to the deputy head of the antimonopoly department, in the framework of this case, the FAS will be able to more quickly receive the necessary information about banks of the Visa International system.

Recall that the FAS began an investigation into the VISA activity in February last year. Officials questioned the validity of the criteria by which Visa accepted new banks in their payment system. In addition, the FAS wanted to figure out how free the banks - members of Visa International - could join other payment systems. Simply put, a year ago, FAS officials began to wonder how correct the business with Russian banks leads Visa.

A year later, the Uralvneshtorgbank asked the FAS to check the corporation for compliance with the competition laws. After that, the payment system deprived the bank of the status of its associated member.

The antimonopoly service to determine the share of each payment system in Russia conducted a study of the situation not only with VISA, but also with MasterCard International, American Express, Diners Club, Union Card, STB Card and Golden Crown.

The head of the Rosbank market and analytical department, Vladimir Pantyushin, explained to the newspaper that 40% of the market share is not too much for Visa, but it is not known how this share was conquered. “Recently, a number of scandals related to the monopoly conspiracy Visa International and Mastercard International against American Express thundered in America,” the expert said. - They agreed with banks that credit institutions with American Express do not work. In return, payment systems offered banks preferential conditions. The question is how Visa behaved in Russia. ”

The VISA trademark appeared 27 years ago, having no more than 40 million cards with a turnover of 12 billion dollars. After a little more than a quarter century, the turnover on VISA cards exceeded 3 trillion dollars. At the end of the second quarter of 2004, banks - VISA members - issued about 1.3 billion VISA cards, which are accepted around the world, in more than 150 countries. Russia occupies one of the leading places in the development of VISA business. In 1994, there were only about 30 thousand VISA cards in the country. Ten years later - at the end of June 2004 - the circulation was 11.8 million VISA cards. The turnover of transactions on VISA cards reached $ 19 billion, which is almost 100% more than the same period last year. The second place in the Russian market of plastic cards is occupied by MasterCard.

11/29/2004 / Julia Govorun