Politico: Retailers Eye Defense Bill for Key Priorities
Leon Buck, a lobbyist for the National Retail Federation and a top executive for a lobbying group that represents retailers, the Merchants Payments Coalition, on Tuesday said that “these amendments would reveal how much swipe fees are costing our nation’s active duty military and veterans and introduce competition that would bring these fees under control.”
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MarketWatch: Visa 'Stands to Lose the Most' From Fed's New Debit Card Rules, Analyst Says
“This ruling is particularly important given the dramatic shift to e-commerce during the pandemic and the increased use of mobile apps and digital wallets for in-store purchases,” said Doug Kantor, an executive committee member at the Merchants Payments Coalition, in a release. “These transactions account for a rapidly increasing share of our nation’s economy and the Fed has closed a major loophole that allowed them to escape the competition intended by Congress.”
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NACS Daily: Senators Seek to Assess Impact of Swipe Fees on Wounded Veterans
“Wounded and disabled veterans and military heroes shouldn’t have to pay extra when they use a credit card at military commissaries,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Vice President for Government Relations, Banking and Financial Services Leon Buck said. “No one should have to pay these high, out-of-control fees, but certainly not our heroes.”
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Payments Dive: Fed Majority Votes to Finalize Debit Rule
“When Congress said merchants had the right to route debit transactions to the processor of their choice, they meant all transactions, not just those in stores,” National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a statement issued by the Merchants Payments Coalition. “The Fed has followed through on Congress’ intent and made it clear that big banks’ evasion of competition must stop. Visa, Mastercard and their bank members should not be allowed to shut out other networks.”
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Progressive Grocer: Retailers Applaud Fed's Clarification Regarding Competitive Routing on Debit Transactions
"This move will bring badly needed competition to our nation’s broken payments market,” said Doug Kantor, executive committee member of the Merchants Payment Coalition and National Association of Convenience Stores general counsel.
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NACS Daily: New Fed Rules to Ease Visa and Mastercard's Anticompetitive Control of Online Debit
“This move will bring badly needed competition to our nation’s broken payments market,” said NACS General Counsel and MPC Executive Committee member Doug Kantor. “When Congress said merchants had the right to route debit transactions to the processor of their choice, they meant all transactions, not just those in stores. The Fed has followed through on Congress’ intent and made it clear that big banks’ evasion of competition must stop. Visa, Mastercard and their bank members should not be allowed to shut out other networks that can do the job more efficiently and more securely.”
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Modern Retail: How New Legislation is Trying to Target Credit Card Swipe Fees
Last year, swipe fees went up 25% and cost U.S. retailers a collective $137.8 billion, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition, a lobbying group that supports the act. More than 1,700 retailers, including many gas stations and grocers, signed onto a letter in September supporting the act, saying the credit card market “has been dominated by only two players for far too long.” Visa and MasterCard control at least 80% of the credit card market, according to the coalition, and set the swipe fees charged by the banks.
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Payments Dive: Durbin Maps Path for Card Bill
Interest groups representing retailers and merchants, including the Merchants Payments Coalition, are engaged in a fierce battle over the legislation with counterparts, including the Electronic Payments Coalition, representing the card companies and banks.
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Insider Intelligence: Companion Credit Card Bill Improves Odds of Swipe Fee Crackdown
The Merchants Payments Coalition lobbied for the bill earlier this year, saying it could help lower costs for both merchants and consumers already burdened by high inflation.
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CNN: Walmart and Target Push to Lower Credit Card Fees
“Swipe fees for credit cards are higher in the United States than anywhere else in the industrialized world — more than seven times as high as Europe,” (the Merchants Payments Coalition and hundreds of businesses) wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “They are an inflation multiplier.”
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