Payment Association of Namibia Reaches N$319,650 Settlement Over Interchange Fee Price Fixing

Payment Association of Namibia Reaches N$319,650 Settlement Over Interchange Fee Price Fixing. The Payment Association of Namibia (PAN) has agreed to pay a total of N$319,650 in a settlement with the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) following an investigation into alleged price fixing practices related to interchange fees.

According to Dina //Gowases, Corporate Communications Practitioner at the NaCC, the investigation began in March 2022 and found that PAN violated several sections of the Competition Act (Act No. 2 of 2003) by entering into an agreement with commercial banks to fix interchange fees — the fees banks charge one another for processing card payments.

The banks involved in the arrangement include First National Bank of Namibia, Bank Windhoek, Standard Bank Namibia, and Nedbank Namibia. These institutions, along with PAN, were found to have jointly implemented the Payment Clearing House Card Schedule (PCH Schedule), which standardised interchange fees across all participants rather than allowing for independent fee-setting.

The NaCC concluded that this collective arrangement amounted to price fixing, which is considered a per se violation of competition laws — meaning it is automatically deemed anti-competitive, regardless of its impact.

PAN has since acknowledged the breach as unintentional and entered into a Consent Agreement with the Commission. The settlement includes a N$299,650 penalty, and N$20,000 to partially cover the Commission’s investigation costs. The full amount is to be paid in one instalment within 30 days of the agreement being confirmed as a court order.