U.S. credit card purchase fee is too high - group

* U.S. 'interchange fee' is around 2 pct

* Fee is 0.30 pct in EU, 0.50 pct in Australia

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. merchants pay credit card fees up to six times greater than those paid by retailers in other countries, a U.S. business group said on Thursday, pushing for legislation to limit such fees.

The Merchants Payments Coalition -- comprising retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores and other businesses -- said U.S. banks charge about 2 percent of every transaction when a customer uses a credit card.

That charge, known as the interchange fee, compares with 0.30 percent in the European Union and 0.50 percent in Australia, the group said.

Merchants and some lawmakers complain that retailers have been blocked from negotiating a fee structure with credit card networks Visa Inc (V.N) and MasterCard Inc (MA.N), whose members are banks.

Visa and MasterCard set the fee structure and control almost three-fourths of the volume of transactions on general-purpose cards, but banks charge the fees.

Critics say such fees end up being passed on to consumers.

U.S. interchange fees rose to $48 billion last year from $42 billion in 2007 and were up 33 percent from 2006.

Under two bills pending in the U.S. Congress, merchants would have greater access to negotiations with banks to establish fees.

The Electronic Payments Coalition, which represents payment card networks and financial services companies, opposes the bills.

Visa and MasterCard say merchants and retailers do have an opportunity to negotiate lower fees. (Reporting by Juan Lagorio; editing by John Wallace)