The Commission, which oversees competition policy in the 27-nation European Union, said that the merger proposed would have reduced competition in services facilitating in-store card payments in Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The companies agreed to divest certain point-of-sale (POS) merchant acquiring services and POS terminal provision and management in the three countries to remove the market overlap and address the Commission's concerns.

The sector has seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions led by U.S. rivals seeking to build up their share of digital transactions.

($1 = 0.8539 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)