COMCO survey of ATM systems in Switzerland

The Competition Commission opened an investigation against Mastercard on February 8 for allegedly impeding the National Cash Scheme (NCS) of SIX

The Competition Commission (COMCO) of the Swiss Confederation opened an investigation against Mastercard on February 8, 2021 for allegedly impeding SIX’s National Cash Scheme (NCS) for ATMs.

The COMCO has issued precautionary measures.

NCS is a system developed by the SIX company that enables cash withdrawals and deposits and the checking of account balances at all ATMs in Switzerland.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of a complaint by SIX, according to which Mastercard prevented NCS from entering the market by refusing to accept “Co-Badging” on new Debit Mastercard with the NCS system.
The COMCO investigation is to determine whether Mastercard has abused its dominant market position. Precautionary measures have been decided for the duration of the investigation.

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Co-badging between MasterCard and NCS under scrutiny

In order for an NCS transaction to take place when using a Mastercard debit card, the NCS system must be integrated into the card itself alongside the Mastercard system.
This integration, called “Co-Badging,” involves combining different payment applications on the same debit card.
The precautionary measures taken by the COMCO therefore enable banks to prepare their debit cards for possible future activation of the NCS system.
The precautionary measures decided by COMCO may be appealed before the Federal Administrative Court.

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