Digital Transactions: Expecting A CCCA Revival, Opponents Spell Out the Bill’s Economic Impact
“This study is a piece of warmed-over fantasy that presents discredited assumptions about the CCCA’s impact on rewards cards,” says Doug Kantor, an executive committee member for the Merchants Payments Coalition and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “Card issuers earn more than $300 billion annually in interest income and cardholder fees and pay out just $41 billion annually in rewards.” Issuers could pay “six times” what they currently pay in rewards and “still have plenty of profit left over,” Kantor adds.
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La Grada: Confirmed – Visa credit cards are changing for good – here are your new fees
During his statement before the committee, Doug Kantor, who represents retail groups that support the proposed legislation, mentioned Visa’s intention to raise fees. Kantor is a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition’s executive committee and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. According to Kantor’s testimony during the hearing on November 19, Visa is raising its fees once more this coming January. Usually, the networks only raise fees in April and October.
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Fox Business: How credit card swipe fees are affecting shoppers
All told, these fees cost retailers more than $170 billion a year. That's up from 2001 when fees were about $20 billion a year, according to the NRF. But they aren't absorbed by the retailers. Instead, they are "built into the price of virtually everything we buy," Doug Kantor, member of the Merchants Payments Coalition Executive Committee, told FOX Business. Today, households are taking on more than $1,100 per year because of these fees. Kantor said these fees are a huge hit to buying power. Given that they "are a percentage of the amount you spend, we've seen it really explode in the face of higher inflation," Kantor, who also serves as general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores, said. According to Dylan Jeon, senior director of government relations at the NRF, the increased use of credit cards has driven up the total amount of fees charged. Another key factor, Jeon added, is that Visa and Mastercard control about 80% of the credit card market. "What that market leverage has allowed them to do is basically raise fees or implement new fees really at their own discretion," Jeon said. "There's really no competitive pushback. There's no reason for them to work with retailers or other merchants to find more common-sense fees and fee structures because, again, they're the two biggest and main players in town."
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KPHO-TV, Phoenix: Valley business owners raise concerns over credit card swipe fees
Credit card company Visa announced this year it will be increasing swipe fees. Critics like the Merchants Payments Coalition say this will only add to the stress small businesses face. "Small business are really getting crushed by these credit card fees. The fees have gone up dramatically. In fact, since 2010 the fees have quadrupled on Visa and Mastercard credit cards." -- Doug Kantor, Merchants Payments Coalition
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NewsMax: Credit Card Fees to Threaten Small Business Margins in 2025 Read Newsmax: Credit Card Fees to Threaten Small Business Margins in 2025 | Newsmax.com Important: Find Your Real Retirement Date in Minutes! More Info Here
The Merchants Payments Coalition said credit cards companies earned a record $172 billion in swipe fees in 2023 and cost the average family $1,100.
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El Adelantado: This is the stick Visa is going to give your wallet – credit card fees will increase in 2025 – it’s official
During his testimony to the committee, Doug Kantor, a representative of retail groups supporting the legislation, pointed out Visa’s plan to raise its fees. Kantor serves as general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores and is also on the executive committee of the Merchants Payments Coalition. “Visa is raising its fees again this January,” Kantor noted in his prepared remarks for the November 19 hearing. He explained that the networks “usually only increase fees in April and October.” He added, “We’re still looking into the scope of these fee hikes,” mentioning another base fee increase that could impact financial institutions.
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NBC News: The fight over credit card swipe fees enters a new year with no end in sight
The Merchants Payments Coalition, an advocacy organization backed by leading restaurant, retail and other trade groups, estimates Visa’s additional fees will total $100 million per year. “That seems like not a lot, but it increases the amount of every single transaction, and that really adds up over time,” said Doug Kantor, a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition’s executive committee and general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores. The Merchants Payments Coalition says the $172 billion in swipe fees in 2023 set a record and estimates they cost the average family more than $1,100. The group is pushing for more transparency with credit card fees, more competition among networks and lower fees.
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NBC TODAY Show: How hidden credit card fees impact consumers and businesses
This week, Visa is raising two of its fees, which will result in an estimated $100 million of increased fees a year, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition. ..."They're built into the prices of everything we buy" -- Doug Kantor, Merchants Payments Coalition.
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Payments Dive: Merchants, banks spar over Fed’s debit card fee proposal
In a Dec. 23 rebuttal letter, the Merchants Payments Coalition, which includes restaurant, retail and gas station members, pushed the Fed to finalize the proposed rule changes, calling them “long-overdue.” It also argued that the ABA letter, which landed after the comment deadline, doesn’t raise any new issues. In its letter, the MPC said the ABA’s analysis ignores comments from consumer organizations that support the Fed’s proposal, and cast doubts on the threat of reduced affordable banking services. Instead, it suggests blocking the rule is a way to keep fees charged through the card networks high. “The banking industry wants to extend, for as long as possible, the status quo in which covered debit card issuers are able to have Visa and Mastercard fix interchange rates on their behalf at lucrative levels that exceed the reasonable and proportional standard Congress established,” the MPC’s letter said.
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Law360: What Banking Attorneys Are Watching In The Courts In 2025
"The card industry will still collect billions in swipe fees in Illinois alone under this law, but it is a key first step in bringing swipe fees under control," Doug Kantor, (MPC Executive Committee member and) general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores, said in a Dec. 20 statement. "We look forward to the law taking effect against Visa and Mastercard in July."
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