EU clears Amex/Fortis Belgian payment card deal

BRUSSELS, Oct 3 (Reuters) - American Express (AXP.N) and Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis (FOR.BR) won permission from EU competition regulators on Friday to modify the existing joint venture Alpha Card into a full-function joint venture.

Most of the Amex payment card issuing and merchant acquiring business in Belgium and Luxembourg was transferred to the initial Alpha Card venture, which issues American Express cards and provides merchant acquiring services in the two countries.

On Aug. 29, American Express and Fortis notified the European Commission that they planned to acquire joint control over Alpha Card.

The Commission's investigation focussed on the overlaps of the parties in the overall payment card issuing and merchant acquiring markets and in their potential segments in Belgium and Luxembourg, the EU executive said in a statement.

"The Commission found that the proposed transaction would only marginally affect the combined market shares of Fortis, American Express and Alpha Card in the overall payment card issuing market," the statement said.

"It did not find any competition concerns in any potential segments thereof in either member state," it said.

A number of payment card issuers and large competitors active in merchant acquiring will keep competing with the joint venture and its parent companies in both countries, therefore the transaction would not raise competition concerns, it said. (Reporting by Dale Hudson)