Punchbowl News: Credit card lobby gets spooky on swipe fees
We should note that the banks aren’t the first to dive into the Halloween milieu for this issue. The Merchants Payments Coalition warned that swipe fees would cost U.S. families “over $300 million” on Halloween-related expenses last month. (“A nightmare on every street,” they said.)
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RV Travel: Is it right we have to pay a banker every time we visit a popular national park?
The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) cited findings from payment consultants CMSPI that showed in 2023 that the swipe fee rate for Visa and Mastercard credit cards averaged 2.91% of the transaction amount (we at RVtravel.com pay a little more than that).
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CNBC: How stablecoins could change the way Americans shop in stores
“There’s tremendous potential in stablecoins. It should disrupt, to some extent, the traditional payment space we have today with credit and debit cards,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores (and MPC Executive Committee member). “It has the promise of faster, cheaper, more efficient and frankly, more convenient transactions for consumers and businesses.”
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C-Store Decisions: Halloween Swipe Fees Projected to Cost Over $300 Million
As Halloween season approaches, retailers are stocking up on the supplies customers might look for. “Swipe” fees, however, will drive up the price of Halloween items by more than $300 million this year, the Merchants Payments Coalition said. “While kids are hoping for treats, Visa and Mastercard are playing their usual tricks on American parents,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Senior Director of Government Relations Dylan Jeon said. “The megabanks and global card networks drive up prices for virtually everything we buy for Halloween. It’s time to make the monopolists play by the rules by passing the Credit Card Competition Act. The card industry needs to compete over swipe fees like small businesses compete every day or the whole year will continue to be a nightmare on every street.”
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: $300 Million of Consumers’ Halloween Dollars are Going Here and It’s Not on Decor
“Swipe” fees banks charge merchants to process credit card transactions will drive up the price of Halloween items by more than $300 million this year, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition. “While kids are hoping for treats, Visa and Mastercard are playing their usual tricks on American parents,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Senior Director of Government Relations Dylan Jeon said. “The megabanks and global card networks drive up prices for virtually everything we buy for Halloween. It’s time to make the monopolists play by the rules by passing the Credit Card Competition Act. The card industry needs to compete over swipe fees like small businesses compete every day or the whole year will continue to be a nightmare on every street.”
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Mass Market Retailers: Swipe fees cost households $1,800 a year
“These numbers show just how broken the payments market really is,” said Jennifer Hatcher, MPC executive committee member and FMI chief public policy officer. “Swipe fees are an even larger burden on small businesses and consumers than we knew previously. They drive up the price of almost everything consumers buy.”
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Chain Drug Review: Credit and debit card ‘swipe’ fees tallied $236 billion in 2024
“These numbers show just how broken the payments market really is and that swipe fees are an even larger burden on small businesses and consumers than we knew previously,” MPC Executive Committee member and FMI — the Food Industry Association Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher said. “With Visa and Mastercard setting prices where all banks charge the same swipe fees, the impact of swipe fees keeps going up. These outrageous fees drive up the price of almost everything consumers buy, and addressing them has been identified as one clear action that can be taken to take costs out of the economy and pressure off of hardworking American families.”
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AInvest: Stablecoins as a Disruptive Force in U.S. Credit Card Payments: Assessing the Threat and Opportunity for Investors
The Merchants Payments Coalition and allies have pushed for legislative reforms like the Credit Card Competition Act, which aims to introduce competition and reduce fees. However, progress has been slow, and the status quo remains: businesses passed $187.2 billion in costs to consumers in 2024 alone, directly fueling inflation.
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NerdWallet: What to Expect if the Credit Card Competition Act Passes
“Swipe fees are the second-highest operating cost, on average, for these businesses. Only labor is a higher cost,” says Doug Kantor, general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores (and MPC Executive Committee member). “A big piece of that is that the fees automatically rise with inflation. As we see inflation in the economy, merchants’ costs go up. Convenience store owners are left chasing their tails to try to maintain some profitability with these rapidly rising fees.”
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NerdWallet: Is Congress Going to Kill Credit Card Rewards?
“Swipe fees that drive up costs for small merchants and prices for American families are already the highest in the industrialized world," said Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, in a June 2023 statement. "This carefully crafted bill will lead to lower fees and better security while helping merchants hold down prices."
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