Payments Dive: Fed Proposes Reduction in Debit Fee Cap
“Banks have been charging more than five times their costs for debit card transactions and the Fed is finally saying that’s too much,” National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a Merchant Payments Coalition press release. “This is a step in the right direction toward the real, competitive market that Congress wanted to see, but still leaves the fees too high. Merchants and the consumers who ultimately pay these fees have been overcharged for far too long, so we need to get this right.”
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Chestertown Spy: Grocers Compete, Why Can't Credit Card Companies?
Credit and debit card swipe fees have more than doubled over the past decade and skyrocketed $22 billion last year to a record $160.7 billion, including $1.7 billion in Maryland. They are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and drive up prices by more than $1,000 a year for the average family, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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Law360: Fed Stirs Pot With Call for Lower Cap on Debit Swipe Fees
"Banks have been charging more than five times their costs for debit card transactions and the Fed is finally saying that's too much," Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores and executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, said in a statement.
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PYMNTS: Fed Proposes Slashing Debit Interchange Fees by 30%, to Review Caps Every Two Years
In the wake of the hearing, and in comments provided via email to PYMNTS, various stakeholders began to weigh in on Wednesday. In one example, the Merchants Payment Coalition said that the proposed reduction in fees does not go “far enough,” though they represent “a step in the right direction.” There’s a bit of debate as to what happens with the fees that would be saved from the caps and other changes to the debit system. The MPC noted in its release that routing rules that let merchants choose their networks saved an estimated $9 billion a year, and cited studies showing about 70% of the savings has been shared with consumers.
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Credit Union Times: Feds Propose Reducing Debit Card Interchange Fee
Merchant Payments Coalition Executive Committee Member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a statement, “Banks have been charging more than five times their costs for debit card transactions and the Fed is finally saying that’s too much. This is a step in the right direction toward the real, competitive market that Congress wanted to see but still leaves the fees too high. Merchants and the consumers who ultimately pay these fees have been overcharged for far too long, so we need to get this right.”
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: Fed Proposes to 'Significantly' Reduce Swipe Fee Cap But Number is Still Too High
The Merchants Payments Coalition agrees that the proposal falls short, saying in a release: “[It] doesn’t go far enough.”
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Cape Gazette: Grocers Compete, Why Can't Credit Card Companies?
They are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and drive up prices by more than $1,000 per year for the average family, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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American Banker: The Credit Card Competition Act is the Right Answer to Fix a Broken Market
Op-ed by MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel says an earlier op-ed by an opponent of the Credit Card Competition Act "got all of the answers wrong."
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Main Street Matters Podcast: Talking NACS with Doug Kantor
MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor: "The fees are huge."
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Green Sheet: MPC Welcomes Fed Review of Debit Card Fee Cap
The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed today’s announcement that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors will meet next week to consider revising its 12-year-old regulation on debit card swipe fees.
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