This is a harsh British winter for MasterCard (MA) — the payments company has been slapped with a fine of £31.6m. After all, you reap what you sow. The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator found out that it, along with four others, was engaged in "cartel behaviour". This is when businesses agree to act together instead of competing with each other. They all keep prices high to prevent losing customers to each other. It's an infringement of competition law as customers miss out on cheaper or better-quality products by other companies. How low, Mastercard.
Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN) and Visa (V) are collab'ing in the UK on a solution to Amazon's riff about Visa's high cost of payments.
Why it matters
These payment companies are clearly facing backlash as they try to keep profits up. Perhaps those pesky FinTechs are to blame for their competitive behavior?
