If Mastercard fails to comply, the EC says it may impose daily penalty payments of 3.5% of MasterCard's daily global turnover in the preceding business year. "Multilateral interchange fee agreements such as MasterCard's inflate the cost of card acceptance by retailers," says EC Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes. "Consumers foot the bill, as they risk paying twice for payment cards: Once through annual fees to their bank and a second time through inflated retail prices paid not only by card users but also by customers paying cash."