Visa Europe is coming closer to agreement with European antitrust regulators over the long-running problem of transaction charges on debit and credit cards, executives indicated on Tuesday.

Peter Ayliffe, Visa Europe’s chief executive, said his company was in a “very constructive dialogue” with the European Commission and he definitely expected an agreement in 2009, although he declined to be more precise. Mr Ayliffe’s comments were considerably more positive than in the past.