Wenatchee Business Journal: Proposed Credit Card Competition Act Aims to Tackle Rising Swipe Fees
A recent survey conducted by the Merchants Payments Coalition indicates that over 65% of those surveyed support the Credit Card Competition Act. This level of support underscores the growing concern among businesses and consumers about rising swipe fees.
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WGN-AM: Small Business Owners Call for Clampdown on Credit Card Surcharges
MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor is interviewed live about rising swipe fees and the need to pass the Credit Card Competition Act
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London Daily Mail: America's $93 Billion 'Swipe Fee' Ripoff, Small Business Owners Call for Clampdown on Credit Card Charges Which Are Pushing Up the Cost of Your Groceries
The fees are a percentage of a transaction amount so they automatically increase when there's inflation,' said Doug Kantor from the Merchants Payments Coalition. 'The fees go up and that acts as a multiplier of that inflationary effect because merchants then have to increase their prices. They have to chase their tail to keep up with the increases.'
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Reading Eagle: 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 $3.4 billion in Pennsylvania. 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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Sinclair Broadcasting: Credit Card Competition Act -- A Push for Lower Swipe Fees, Potential Savings for Consumers
“The bottom line is that the only pressure and incentive on that swipe fee is to raise it because banks are going to decide whether they want ... to issue a Visa credit card or a Mastercard credit card based on who's going to let them charge the highest fee and bring them the highest volume,” said Stephanie Martz, general counsel for the National Retail Federation and an executive committee member for the Merchant Payment Coalition.
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Entrepreneur: Sorry, Points Lovers -- Buying With a Credit Card Can Be Costly for Small Businesses
According to the Merchants Payments Coalition, an organization aimed at payment reform in the U.S., retailers across the county now bear an annual burden of roughly $160 billion in "swipe fees" — charges imposed on merchants for processing card payments. Doug Kantor, a member of the coalition's executive committee, told NPR that the figure has surged by more than 50% since 2020. "It is unfortunately a very unjust system and one that's hidden from most of us so that we really don't even know what's happening," Kantor told the outlet.
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NACS Daily: Senate Appropriations Package on Hold
Fifty convenience retailers and state association executives traveled to Washington, DC on September 20 to make the pitch for the legislation to Senators in person, as part of a fly-in coordinated by NACS and the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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NPR: A New Bill Would Reduce the Fees Shop Owners are Charged When Customers Swipe a Card
M{PC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor: "In general, these fees are really just baked into the cost of everything we buy. Even consumers who are cash payers pay more for every good that they buy than they really should."
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: 3 Senators, Business Owners Urge Passage of Credit Card Competition Act
“Thank you to Senators Durbin, Marshall, Welch and Vance for their tireless advocacy on behalf of Main Street businesses. We need Congress to follow the lead of these champions of Main Street. With Visa and Mastercard hiking fees and creating new ones just next month, it’s time to pass the Credit Card Competition Act,” said Doug Kantor, Merchants Payments Coalition Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel.
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Convenience Store News: Consumers Echo Support for Credit Card Swipe Fee Reform
Retailers aren't the only ones concerned with high swipe fees. Nearly two-thirds of likely voters support credit card swipe fee reform, according to a new survey released today by the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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