The Competition Board concluded the preliminary inquiry conducted about the claim that MASTERCARD and VISA, which are providing payment system services globally, violated article 4 and/or 6 of the Act no 4054 on the Protection of Competition by means of various exclusionary practices in scheme services and digital wallet services markets, where they carry out activities in Türkiye.

In the meeting of the Competition Board dated 24.10.2024, it was decided that in order to examine

• whether discount/incentive systems that MASTERCARD and VISA, which own most of the debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards issued in Türkiye, develop separately in a way that may create exclusivity in the context of their vertical relations with the undertakings that issue cards in the scheme services market lead to a risk of foreclosing the market to competitors individually and/or through cumulative effects,  
• whether MASTERCARD abused its dominant position in the digital wallet market by means of practices that complicate its competitors’ activities, especially predatory pricing,
• the possible anticompetitive effects created by the noncompete obligation not to purchase services from competing providers imposed by VISA to its buyers, who are member merchants, in the digital wallet services market,

an investigation shall be launched on the economic unity composed of Mastercard Europe SA, MasterCard Europe SA İstanbul Liaison Office and Masterpass Teknoloji Hizmetleri AŞ, which is finally controlled by Mastercard Incorporated and on the economic unity composed of Visa Europe Limited, Visa Europe Services LLC and Visa Europe Services LLC Türkiye Representative Office, which is finally controlled by Visa Inc.