MasterCard has complained about a " regulatory bias " , which it says has allowed American Express to be the first to roll out retail Pay in Australia , while preventing MasterCard and Visa from doing the same . it argues that the way in which the Australian regulatory Bank regulates transactions means that it can force far higher costs onto retailers , businesses , and consumers . Every time a customer uses AMEX , merchants are typically charged about 1.7 % of the transaction . Meanwhile , Visa and MasterCard 's interchange fees are now charged at an average over three years of 0.5 % , and on average the total merchant service fee is 0.83 % .
MasterCard has complained about a "regulatory hole", which it says has allowed American Express to be the first to roll out Apple Pay in Australia, while preventing MasterCard and Visa from doing the same. MasterCard argues that the way in which the Australian Central Bank regulates Amex means that it can force far higher costs onto retailers, businesses, and consumers. Every time a customer uses AMEX, merchants are typically charged about 1.7% of the transaction. Meanwhile, Visa and MasterCard's interchange fees are now capped at an average over three years of 0.5%, and on average the total merchant service fee is 0.83%.