Finance

Mastercard, Visa and PayPal Hit With UK Competition Probe

A customer uses their phone to pay inside a store at Fenchurch station in London. — A customer uses their phone to pay inside a store at Fenchurch station in London.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Jeremy Hodges and Paige Smith

May 6, 2026 at 1:06 PM UTC

Updated on

May 6, 2026 at 1:31 PM UTC

The UK’s finance watchdog said it had begun an investigation into Mastercard Inc., Visa Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. over suspected anti-competitive conduct linked to the funding and usage of PayPal’s digital wallet.

The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it hasn’t reached any conclusions over whether competition law had been broken. PayPal disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing this week.