Mastercard denies report it plans to raise credit card fees

Mastercard on Tuesday denied a media report that this fall the payments processing giant is planning to increase credit card fees, which many merchants pay when they accept customers' credit cards.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources and documents it had viewed, reported last week that fee increases were scheduled to start in October and April at Mastercard and rival Visa.

The Journal and its owner, Dow Jones, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the matter.

"Mastercard is not raising interchange rates in the US this fall and has no plans to do so," the company said. It added that its also not raising network fees in the United States required for the processing of Mastercard transactions this fall.

Meanwhile, Visa also said in a blog post that recent press coverage on the issue was "misleading." The world's largest payments processor added that despite strong growth in the use of its cards, overall interchange fees on Visa transactions have been flat for the past decade.

"Moreover, over the past few years, Visa has lowered interchange for the vast majority of small businesses and in key segments such as supermarkets and quick service restaurants," a Visa spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.