Amex, KLM co-brand deal may fall under EU card-fee caps, top court says
( April 16, 2026, 10:01 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: Payments made between American Express to airline KLM under co-branded card arrangements must be included when applying EU limits on card fees, the bloc’s top court ruled, even though KLM is not a card issuer. Judges said "net compensation" should be assessed to see whether it is equivalent in "object or effect" to an interchange fee usually found within the four-party Visa and Mastercard systems. Such payments can be equivalent where they seek to incentivize card usage. Judgment attached. Case reference is C-549/23. ...
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