The Dutch competition authority, Nederlandse Mededingsautoriteit (NMA), says it suspects the nation's banks of overcharging retailers for PIN and card transactions at the point-of-sale.
Following an investigation, NMA says that Interpay, the umbrella payments body for the Dutch banking sector, may be abusing its monopoly position when setting tariffs for credit card transactions and PIN sales.
The ruling names ABN Amro, ING, Fortis, SNS Bank, Friesland Bank, Van Lanschot Bankiers and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten. The banks have a month to respond to NMA's charges and will be fined if they fail to make a reasonable case for their pricing policies.