U.K. credit card interchange fees face the axe

The U.K. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) moved closer to reaching a decision on the interchange fees charged to merchants and retailers by credit card companies for credit card purchases. Last month OFT issued a statement of its objections on the fees and sources say a resolution could be reached in the near term.

"Whether it's [the] OFT saying point-blank that creditors can't charge these fees or the industry implementing some medium of self regulation where the fees are brought down - we are likely to see some changes in the process," said one market source. "There's been a lot of negative noise about the fees. They are high but in the end they incorporate some of the cost and expenses for the cardholder."