Here's why UK regulator has fined Mastercard, other payment firms

Here's why UK regulator has fined Mastercard, other payment firms Britain's payments regulator on Tuesday fined five payments companies including Mastercard a total of 33 million pounds ($45.01 million) for cartel behaviour involving prepaid cards issued to vulnerable people on welfare benefits. Mastercard received the largest fine of 31.56 million pounds ($43.04 million). The other companies fined were allpay, Advanced Payment Solution, Prepaid Financial Services and Sulion. The Payment Services Regulator (PSR) said the firms broke competition law by agreeing not to compete or poach each other's customers on pre-paid cards offered by local authorities to distribute welfare payments to vulnerable people. The cartel meant recipients of the cards - who included the homeless, victims of domestic abuse and asylum seekers - could have missed out on cheaper or better-quality products, the regulator said. The PSR previously announced in March last year it planned to fine the five companies in preliminary findings. It said on Tuesday it had concluded the investigation. The regulator said during the course of the investigation, all the parties settled and admitted breaking the law. "This investigation and the significant fines we have imposed send a clear message that the PSR has zero tolerance for cartel behaviour," said Chris Hemsley, Managing Director of the Payment Systems Regulator.Follow Gadgets Now on  Facebook  and  Twitter.   For the  latest news,   tech news,   breaking news headlines and live updates checkout Gadgetsnow.comGN Awards - Vote for your favourite GadgetsFacebookTwitterLinkedinAdd commentStart a ConversationAll Comments (0)+0/3000Be the first one to comment.{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/heres-why-uk-regulator-has-fined-mastercard-other-payment-firms/articleshow/88970448.cms","url":"https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/heres-why-uk-regulator-has-fined-mastercard-other-payment-firms/articleshow/88970448.cms"},"headline":"Here's why UK regulator has fined Mastercard, other payment firms","description":"Britain's payments regulator on Tuesday fined five payments companies including Mastercard a total of 33 million pounds ($45.01 million) for cartel behaviour involving prepaid cards issued to vulnerable people on welfare benefits. Mastercard received the largest fine of 31.56 million pounds ($43.04 million). The other companies fined were allpay, Advanced Payment Solution, Prepaid Financial Services and Sulion. The Payment Services Regulator (PSR) said the firms broke competition law by agreeing...","keywords":"payment services regulator,advanced payment solution,prepaid financial services,prepaid cards,mastercard fined,mastercard,allpay,sulion","datePublished":"2022-01-18T14:03:00+05:30","dateModified":"2022-01-18T14:06:00+05:30","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/resizemode-4,msid-88970448,width-1200,height-900/88970448.jpg","height":900,"width":1200},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Reuters"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Gadgets Now","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.toiimg.com/photo/88204186.cms","width":600,"height":60}},"articleBody":"Britain's payments regulator on Tuesday fined five payments companies including Mastercard a total of 33 million pounds ($45.01 million) for cartel behaviour involving prepaid cards issued to vulnerable people on welfare benefits. Mastercard received the largest fine of 31.56 million pounds ($43.04 million). The other companies fined were allpay, Advanced Payment Solution, Prepaid Financial Services and Sulion. The Payment Services Regulator (PSR) said the firms broke competition law by agreeing not to compete or poach each other's customers on pre-paid cards offered by local authorities to distribute welfare payments to vulnerable people. The cartel meant recipients of the cards - who included the homeless, victims of domestic abuse and asylum seekers - could have missed out on cheaper or better-quality products, the regulator said. The PSR previously announced in March last year it planned to fine the five companies in preliminary findings. It said on Tuesday it had concluded the investigation. The regulator said during the course of the investigation, all the parties settled and admitted breaking the law. \"This investigation and the significant fines we have imposed send a clear message that the PSR has zero tolerance for cartel behaviour,\" said Chris Hemsley, Managing Director of the Payment Systems Regulator."} - https://www.affordablecebu.com/