At present, a retailer incurs a small fee whenever a customer makes a payment using a debit or credit card. Generally, this cost is either included in a bill as an additional charge, or factored into prices; either way, consumers are ultimately liable. The European Commission estimates that card transaction fees run to around €10bn annually overall; charges can vary from member state to member state.

However, the European Parliament has now moved to cap fees for credit and debit card transactions, at 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent of the value of a transaction respectively. The successful vote follows an agreement between national EU member state governments in favour of a limit last December.

The cap could make for considerable consumer savings in the UK; UK consumers hold around 70 per cent of Europe’s credit cards, there are over 95m debit and 61m credit cards currently in use, and card transaction fees can reach up to 0.8 per cent. The limits will apply to all mainstream cards, bar American Express.

“For too long, banks have got away with charging retailers excessive card fees and it is consumers who end up paying the price,” said Liberal Democrat MEP, Catherine Bearder said. “This move will make card fees cheaper, fairer and more transparent for shoppers, whether buying at home or abroad in the EU. It will also lower the cost of internet payments and help to create a level playing field for online shopping across Europe.”

However, reaction from industry figures has been mixed. David Mann of uSwitch.com believes the cap “should be great news for card users…but only if savings are passed on to them.”

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He went on to note however that “we haven’t seen such savings passed on in other countries that have introduced similar caps.”

“Prices have remained the same and retailers have padded their bottom line with these savings. The ruling could also mean the of free cashback or reward credit cards, which are largely funded by transaction costs.”

A spokesperson for Visa said that while clarity on the fees was welcome, the move “could hurt the cards industry…and there was no guarantee that retailers would pass savings on to consumers.”