Convenience Store News: Credit & Debit Card Swipe Fees Reached $224B in 2023
"This report shows that the cost of swipe fees is much higher than previously known and that the impact on small businesses and consumers is far more severe," said Jennifer Hatcher, executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition and chief public policy officer at FMI – The Food Industry Association. "This underscores the need for Congress to bring competition to the broken payments market as soon as possible."
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Digital Transactions: U.S. Merchants Pay the Highest Card Acceptance Costs in the World, a CMSPI Report Contends
The MPC released a statement Tuesday saying the CMSPI report shows the financial impact card-acceptance fees are having on merchants and underscores the need for Congress to bring competition to the payments market as soon as possible.
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HBS Dealer: Data shows more pain at the POS
The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed new data released today by payments consulting firm CMSPI showing that “swipe fees” big banks and card networks charge merchants to process credit and debit card transactions totaled $224 billion last year, nearly a third more than previously believed.
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Inside Washington Retail: Merchants urge CFPB to address bank-driven cash-back fees in small towns
The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to address the root causes of cash-back fees in small towns, attributing them to high swipe fees set by banks and the lack of banking services in these areas. A recent CFPB report revealed that while most merchants offer cash-back at no charge, some charge fees due to the exorbitant costs imposed by credit card companies and unregulated small banks. These fees, which can reach $3 for every $100 given as cash back, contrast sharply with the modest 50 cents to $1 fees merchants typically charge customers. The MPC argues that the real issue lies in the banking and credit card industries, whose rising swipe fees have doubled over the past decade, significantly increasing costs for consumers.
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The Financial Brand: Four Developing Payments Stories That Bankers Must Watch This Fall
The Merchants Payments Coalition turned the study into an anti-banking message. “The CFPB’s report shows most merchants provide cash back to customers at no charge, and that means they are taking losses in order to provide this valuable service. Those who are charging a fee do so because they must pay exorbitant fees to credit card companies and banks,” said Doug Kantor, a member of the coalition’s executive committee and general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores. Added Kantor for the coalition: “We should always be clear that the source of the problem with consumer fees on any card transaction is the banking and credit card industry.”
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Credit Unions Today: Merchants Group Fires Back at CFPB; Says Real Fault for Fees Charged for Getting Cash Back at Stores Lies With Financial Institutions
“The CFPB’s report shows most merchants provide cash back to customers at no charge, and that means they are taking losses in order to provide this valuable service,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a statement. “Those who are charging a fee do so because they must pay exorbitant fees to credit card companies and banks. Most debit cards in small towns across America that have been abandoned by banks are not subject to federal regulations and charge merchants exorbitant swipe fees – much like credit cards that have no regulation at all. We should always be clear that the source of the problem with consumer fees on any card transaction is the banking and credit card industry."
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Digital Transactions: The Prairie State’s National Challenge
The cause of the acrimony isn’t hard to perceive. U.S. merchants paid more than $100 billion in interchange fees in 2023, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition, which lobbies on behalf of merchants on interchange and related matters.
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Digital Transactions: Blame High Swipe Fees for Stores’ Cash-Back Charges, a Merchant Group Says
The average merchant fee for cash-back is less than the surcharges for out-of-network ATM withdrawals, and the Merchants Payments Coalition counters that most retailers don’t charge a cash-back fee and that those that do charge a fee do so to help offset the cost of swipe fees.
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: High Fees for Cash-Back Transactions? Blame the Banks, Not the Store, MPC Says
A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report recently released touched on how American consumers are paying “tens of millions of dollars” to access their own money through cash back transactions. But the Merchants Payments Coalition says those fees are the fault of the banks who set high “swipe” fees while also failing to provide services in small towns. The report, which was released this week, said “Americans are paying tens of millions of dollars in fees to access their own money when getting ‘cash back’” when using a debit card or prepaid card. “Swipe fees go up with every extra dollar in a transaction, so retailers have to pay higher fees if a customer wants cash back,” said MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said.
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CNBC: Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Kroger customers pay over $90 million a year in cash-back fees, federal agency finds
The “vast majority” of retailers don’t charge for cash back, and therefore take a financial loss to offer this service to customers for free, said Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores and a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition Executive Committee. “Banks have abandoned many of these communities and they’re gouging retailers just for taking people’s cards or giving people cash,” he said.
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