Convenience Store News: Credit Card Fees Could Add $20B-Plus to Holiday Spending Tab
"Inflation is coming down but swipe fees keep going up, taking a bigger slice out of what it takes to put presents under the tree," said Stephanie Martz, MPC executive committee member and National Retail Federation (NRF) chief administrative officer and general counsel. "With swipe fees higher here than in other countries, our children get fewer presents for the money than kids in Great Britain, France or even China. The best present Congress can give children this year is passage of the Credit Card Competition Act."
READ MORE +
USA Today: Tariffs may be an inflation worry but so are credit card processing fees, some say
While consumer prices have risen about 20% since the pandemic, swipe fees have increased by 50% and hit a record $172 billion in 2023, the Merchant Payments Coalition estimates. “Inflation is coming down, but swipe fees keep going up, taking a bigger slice out of what it takes to put presents under the tree,” said Stephanie Martz, MPC executive committee member and NRF chief administrative officer and general counsel, in a statement last week.
READ MORE +
Supply Chain Brain: Businesses Face $20B in 'Swipe Fees' from Holiday Shopping Season
The Merchant Payments Coalition (MPC) estimates that swipe fees have increased by 50% since the pandemic, and hit a record $172 billion in 2023. The MPC further notes that swipe fees represent the highest operating cost for a business after labor, often leading to increased prices for customers. “Inflation is coming down but swipe fees keep going up, taking a bigger slice out of what it takes to put presents under the tree,” MPC executive committee member Stephanie Martz said in a December 4 news release urging Congress to pass the CCCA. "With swipe fees higher here than in other countries, our children get fewer presents for the money than kids in Great Britain, France or even China.
READ MORE +
NACS Daily: How Will Swipe Fees Affect the Holidays?
“Inflation is coming down but swipe fees keep going up, taking a bigger slice out of what it takes to put presents under the tree,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Stephanie Martz said. “With swipe fees higher here than in other countries, our children get fewer presents for the money than kids in Great Britain, France or even China. The best present Congress can give children this year is passage of the Credit Card Competition Act.”
READ MORE +
Gifts and Decorative Accessories: Record ‘Swipe Fees’ Could Cost Families Presents Under the Tree, MPC Says
“Inflation is coming down but swipe fees keep going up, taking a bigger slice out of what it takes to put presents under the tree,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Stephanie Martz said. “With swipe fees higher here than in other countries, our children get fewer presents for the money than kids in Great Britain, France or even China. The best present Congress can give children this year is passage of the Credit Card Competition Act.”
READ MORE +
NACS Convenience Matters Podcast: NACS Calls for Action on Swipe Fees
In November, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the need for competition in the credit card market. Hear what NACS General Counsel (and MPC Executive Committee member) Doug Kantor told committee members on behalf of the c-store industry.
READ MORE +
New York Times: As Cash Fades, Small Retailers Embrace Efforts to Rein In Swipe Fees
While the Justice Department’s complaint zeros in on debit fees, Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, said the case also puts a spotlight on credit card transaction fees, which can be even more cumbersome for merchants.
READ MORE +
Payments Dive: Visa to boost credit card fees next year
In testimony before the committee, Doug Kantor, a representative for retail organizations that back the proposed legislation, noted a Visa plan to increase fees. Kantor is general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores as well as an executive committee member for the Merchants Payments Coalition. “Visa is increasing its fees again this January,” Kantor said in the text of remarks for the Nov. 19 hearing. The networks “typically increase fees only in April and October. “We are still investigating the extent of these fee increases,” he said, also referencing another base fee increase that could affect financial institutions.
READ MORE +
Progressive Grocer: Retailers Speak Out on Anticompetitive Credit Card Market
“Most consumers are not aware of these fees or the effect they have on the cost of goods and services and the U.S. economy, but the effects are dramatic,” said Merchants Payment Coalition executive committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor, in his testimony at the hearing on behalf of both organizations. “For merchants, these excessive and ever-increasing fees are a constant source of stress and financial difficulty, and for consumers they contribute significantly to inflation. In fact, swipe fees reduce efficiency across the economy.”
READ MORE +
Digital Transactions: A Senate Panel Sends a Signal: Time to Cut a Deal on Swipe Fees
Responding to the committee member’s comments, representatives of the merchant community said they would welcome an opportunity to sit down at the negotiating table with Visa and Mastercard and work out a solution. “Merchants have been at the table waiting patiently, but the card networks have shown no interest,” says Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores (and MPC Executive Committee member), who testified at the hearing. “Every day the card networks do nothing [about providing swipe fee relief] means billions of dollars for them, so that’s why we are asking Congress for help.” Kantor argues that if Congress were to pass the CCCA or take other steps to provide swipe-fee relief, it would break the Visa and Mastercard duopoly and create true competition that would pave the way for negotiations. “That’s why we want Congress to act,” Kantor says. “Any action from Congress would be a dramatic improvement” over the current system.
READ MORE +