Lawn and Garden Retailer: Consumers could pay more than $750M in swipe fees for Mother’s Day
“Credit card companies are swiping two flowers out of Mom’s bouquet this Mother’s Day,” said Lyle Beckwith, MPC executive committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores senior vice president of government relations.
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A coalition including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Merchants Payments Coalition and the American Economic Liberties Project says lawmakers should enact legislation to curb credit card swipe fees despite a $30 billion proposed legal settlement that would cap the charges.
READ MORE +Digital Transactions: Potential Merchant Savings on Swipe Fees Is the Latest Payments Battleground
The latest battle centers on data from payments consultancy CMSPI that says merchants will save $16.4 billion annually in credit card acceptance fees from passage of the proposed legislation, up from an estimated $15 billion in 2023. The increased savings come as the interchange fees merchants pay to accept credit cards surpassed $170 billion in 2023, costing the average family more than $1,100, according to estimates released by the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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According to the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is projected to save merchants and consumers more than $16 billion a year, so its passage is pivotal for the U.S. economy. “Total swipe fees have jumped above $170 billion per year and cost the average family more than $1,100,” said Christopher Jones, MPC executive committee member and National Grocers Association SVP of Government Relations and Counsel. “Given those exploding numbers, the Credit Card Competition Act would save people an estimated $16 billion per year. Small businesses and their customers desperately need a competitive market system and the savings that would come from this legislation. It’s a modest hit to card industry revenues but very significant to those who ultimately pay these fees.”
READ MORE +Gifts and Decorative Accessories: Merchants Beg Card Industry to ‘Stop Gouging American Consumers’ as Swipe Fee Costs Rise
Soaring credit and debit card swipe fees cost the average U.S. household more than $1,100 last year, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
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“American families should not get bilked for more than $1,100 each year on swipe fees,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Senior Director of Government Relations Dylan Jeon said. “It’s time for the card industry to stop gouging American consumers and small businesses and compete to offer market-based, competitive fees. Instead, the credit card industry uses cartel pricing to extract more and more dollars from Americans’ pockets each year. Congress needs to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to fix the broken credit card market.”
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According to the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), Visa and Mastercard control 80% of the U.S. credit card market. As a result, “Each centrally set the swipe fees charged by banks that issue cards under their brands, and also block transactions from being processed over other networks that could do the job with lower fees and better security,” MPC officials suggest.
READ MORE +Credit Unions Today: Merchants Group Launches TV Ad Saying Card Legislation Must be Passed to Stop China From Getting Data
The Merchants Payments Coalition has launched a new TV commercial that warns there is “no bar to China’s payment network processing Americans’ credit card data” unless Congress passes the bill. The 30-second ad and similar digital banner ads are running in Washington and targeted markets around the country.
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The Credit Card Competition Act would require that Mastercard or Visa charges be clearable through a third party, but it specifies that the alternative processor cannot be one that’s controlled by a foreign government. The stipulation appears to be aimed at China UnionPay, the network that is owned by the People’s Republic of China. “The prohibition would keep banks from exposing Americans’ sensitive financial data to foreign governments by routing U.S. credit card transactions over foreign networks,” the Merchants Payment Coalition said in announcing its new ad campaign.
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“A glaring gap in payments security currently gives U.S. banks the option to outsource credit card processing to China through the China UnionPay network if they choose to do so,” Christopher Jones, MPC executive committee member and National Grocers Association senior vice president of government relations and counsel, said. “The CCCA would close that loophole and protect American consumers.”
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