The UK financial authority has opened an investigation into Mastercard, Visa and PayPal on suspicion of anti-competitive practices involving financing and the use of the PayPal digital wallet.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reported on Wednesday that it has not yet concluded whether or not there was a violation of competition rules. PayPal had already announced the opening of the process in a regulatory statement this week.
According to representatives from PayPal, Mastercard and Visa, the three companies are collaborating with the FCA investigation, which has the powers to conduct this type of investigation in the financial services sector.
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According to a spokesperson, Mastercard says it always seeks to comply with the highest standards in terms of competition legislation.
In 2024, the United States Department of Justice sued Visa, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing the debit card market. At the time, the agency requested information about the company’s agreements with PayPal, with the aim of preventing the platform from encouraging consumers to pay directly with their current account, instead of using debit and credit cards, when using PayPal’s digital wallet.
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