LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Visa and Mastercard ( MA ) can

challenge a judgment that found their default multilateral

interchange fees charged to retailers infringe competition law,

London's Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, in a long-running

legal battle over the charges.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled last year, in linked

lawsuits brought by hundreds of merchants, that Visa and

Mastercard's ( MA ) multilateral interchange fees breached

European competition law.

The merchants' lawyers previously said that was the first

time Visa and Mastercard's ( MA ) commercial card and inter-regional

multilateral interchange fees had been found to infringe

competition law.

But the Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal on

Tuesday, in a decision welcomed by Mastercard ( MA ) and Visa.

The companies said in separate statements that interchange

plays an important role in a digital payments ecosystem and

provides benefits to consumers, businesses and banks.

Cian Mansfield, from law firm Scott+Scott, which represents

the claimants, said: "We are confident that we will resist the

application successfully at the substantive appeal".