The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has fined Barclays Bank £8.4m ($10.3m) for failing to comply with the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR). The regulator found that Barclays did not provide supply retailers with required information about the fees attached to different card services.

Because of Barclays’ lack of transparency, the PSR says, retailers weren’t fully aware of their fees, and were therefore not able to effectively compare prices of card services prices with other banks, or even negotiate their service prices with Barclays.  

“It’s vital that retailers and consumers get value for money on payment services – the interchange fee rules are an important part of making sure this happens. Barclays’ failure to be transparent with retailers about the fees they pay for card services meant retailers could have been missing out on better deals ”said Chris Hemsley, the PSR’s managing director. 

Three years of failure

According to the PSR’s investigation, Barclays failed to comply with the IFR from December 2015 to December 2018. During these three years, Barclays processed a third of all card payment transactions in the UK.  

Barclays has agreed to settle the charges at an early stage of the enforcement process, and has therefore qualified for a discounted penalty. If it weren’t for the discount, the bank would have had to pay £12m ($14.7m).

“Where we see banks failing to comply with the Interchange Fee Regulation, we have powers to intervene to make sure these important rules are followed, so retailers can make informed decisions about the services they use,” said Hemsley. 

Barclays is not the only bank that has been fined by PSR this year. Earlier in May, PSR fined NatWest Group £1.82m ($2.23m) for overcharging interchange fees on credit cards.

And as reported earlier, other Barclays branches have also been fined by The FCA, The SEC, FINRA and The CFTC this year.