The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Visa and Mastercard fees are under fresh scrutiny from European Union antitrust enforcers, less than a decade after a series of probes ended with hefty fines and an agreement to cut some of their controversial levies. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says European Commission regulators last week circulated a new series of questions to market participants on "scheme fees" they impose on the financial institutions that provide card-payment services to retailers using Visa and Mastercard. The questionnaires focused on whether retailers have a choice of whether to accept Visa and Mastercard payments, whether merchants are getting value for money from the fees eventually passed onto them, and how transparent the charges are. While at an early stage, it is possible the EU's competition watchdog could move toward opening of a formal probe, increasing the risk of heavy fines of as much as 10 per cent of annual revenue if the companies are found to have abused their market dominance. The fresh scrutiny comes on the heels of comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde that the 27-member bloc needs to reduce its dependence on foreign payment providers.