The fees on Visa/MasterCard in the EU are capped at 0.2% for debit cards, 0.3% for credit cards. American Express (and all the other schemes where the issuer i

The fees on Visa/MasterCard in the EU are capped at 0.2% for debit cards, 0.3% for credit cards. American Express (and all the other schemes where the issuer is also the acquirer, i.e. Diners Club) aren’t capped. The 0.3% cap however did kill Amex’s licensing model where they let other banks around Europe issue their cards, so they simply withdrew from those, as 0.3% is not enough to pay for the rewards. Note that this is just interchange. Payment processors still charge merchants whatever they damn please.