Commercial banks and the Payment Association of Namibia (PAN) have applied to the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) to have the current interchange fee model exempted from the provisions of the Competition Act. Interchange fees are payments the bank pays, whenever a customer uses a credit or debit card to make a purchase from stores. The fees are paid to the card-issuing bank to cover handling cost. PAN, which supervises, administrates and regulates payment and settlement systems in the country, together with the banks agreed on the interexchange rate be levied on a customer making a payment to a customer of another bank. In a case where a customer pays N$100 of goods at a grocer and pays with swipes, his or her bank account is debited with N$100. However, the issuing bank pays the retailers’ account N$99,50, will now only pay N$99 to the acquiring bank. In the event of ATM transactions, when a client withdraws money from another bank, the client’s bank pays a fee to the operator of that ATM. However, this amount will now be paid by the client to his or her bank. The application is now before the competition commission to consider if there are compelling or exceptional public policy justifications that would warrant an exemption of the fees. NaCC has now requested the public to make an input within 30 days, in respect of the implications arising from granting the application.