Update: On 3 November 2021 we published our final report.
This annex describes the analysis we conducted on whether acquirers passed through the cost savings they made from the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) caps (‘IFR savings’) to merchants between 2014 and 2018.
The main findings of this analysis are set out in Chapter 5 of the interim report. This annex provides further details on the methodology, data, and sensitivity analysis conducted to test the robustness of the findings. This annex supplements Chapter 5 of the interim report but can be read as a standalone document. It is aimed at a reader who wants to understand the technical detail of our analysis.
This document should be read alongside:
- Card-acquiring market review interim report (MR18/1.7)
- Annex 1 Industry Background (MR18/1.7 Annex 1)
- Annex 3 Financial review (MR18/1.7 Annex 3)
- Annex 4 Scheme fees (MR18/1.7 Annex 4)
- Glossary (MR18/1.7 Glossary)
- Annex 5 Barriers to entry and expansion (MR18/1.7 Annex 5)
- IFF Research - annex on merchant survey results
- IFF Research - annex on their technical report