Visa Europe statement: European Commission decision on Visa Europe and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

Responding to the European Commission's decision today regarding Visa Europe and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Visa Europe's President and Chief Executive Peter Ayliffe insisted: "We will appeal this decision. We do not believe that Visa Europe infringed EU competition law. There is no value as a precedent to this decision.

"The Commission continued to pursue this case even after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter had withdrawn their complaint and the matter was settled between the parties.

"The Commission itself has stated that the priorities of enforcement policy should be to concentrate on the investigation of competition issues that are critical to the European economy. The Commission has been pondering the future of interchange for over a decade but has yet to provide the certainty desperately needed to allow Europe's banks to invest in developing a true internal market in payments.

"Visa Europe believes that if the Commission is truly committed to competition in European payments it would be better prioritising its resources on the unresolved interchange issue which threatens to curtail the growth of electronic payments to the detriment of all of Europe's businesses and consumers.

"Visa Europe - the only truly European payment system - is committed to the goals of the Commission to create a true internal market for payments in Europe and the establishment of the Single Euro Payment Area. In September we reinforced this commitment to the Commission's ideals when our banks voted not to join the global merger of Visa regions but instead to continue to operate as a bank membership association focused solely on providing Europe with an appropriate payments system for the 21st century.

"Visa Europe and the Commission need to maintain focus on realising the laudable goals of delivering SEPA, the Payment Services Directive, and the internal market in payments, rather than the Commission pursuing investigations on matters already resolved.

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About Visa Europe
In Europe, there are nearly 321 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2006, those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of over €1.2 trillion.? For every €9 spent in Europe today, €1 is spent on a Visa card.

Visa Europe is a membership association - an organisation owned and operated by its 4,500 European member banks. As a dedicated European organisation it is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers, and to meet the European Commission's objective to create a true internal market for payments. Visa Europe is a part owner of Visa International, the organisation that ensures global interoperability of products as well as management of the Visa brand.

In October 2006, Visa announced that it intends to restructure its entire worldwide organisation except Europe in order to create a new public global corporation called Visa Inc. As a part of this restructuring, Visa Europe will remain a membership association with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual license in Europe.

Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In addition, Visa/Plus is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in over 170 countries.