The interchange fee is charged by the consumer’s bank to the retailer’s bank whenever a consumer pays a retailer using a credit or debit card. The interchange fee is usually passed on by the retailer’s bank to the retailer. In December 2007, the EC found that MasterCard’s cross-border multilateral interchange fees were anti-competitive because they inflated the cost of card acceptance by retailers without leading to proven efficiencies. The EC ordered MasterCard to phase out these fees. In April 2009, following intense negotiations, MasterCard accepted to reduce its interchange fees and to enhance the transparency of its payment card schemes. According to the EC , MasterCard’s new fees will be the lowest in the world for credit and debit card transactions. These undertakings will apply while MasterCard’s appeal against the EC ’s 2007 decision is pending before the Court of First Instance. The EC is currently investigating Visa’s multilateral interchange fees and recently issued a statement of objections in which it argues that Visa’s fees are also anti-competitive.