Credit card companies Greidslumidlun, Kreditkort and Fjölgreidslumidlun have confessed to violating competition laws by blocking competition and agreed to pay a fine worth ISK 735 million (USD 12 million, EUR 8 million).
The Competition Authority, which has investigated the case for one and a half years, concluded that the three companies had cooperated illegally on preventing PBS/Kortathjónustan from establishing itself in the market, Morgunbladid reports.
Managing director of Kortathjónustan Jóhannes Ingi Kolbeinsson said his company had suffered extensive financial damages because of the actions taken by the other credit card companies and that a lawsuit is being prepared.
“When we entered the market in 2002 we offered better terms and more frequent payoffs than our competitors and the market received us well. One cannot say the same thing about our competitors because they basically announced that they would exterminate us,” Kolbeinsson said.
Valitor, previously Greidslumidlun, issued a statement saying neither vendors nor card holders had suffered any financial damages from their violations of competition laws, but Kolbeinsson strongly disagrees.
