Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees Could Cost Consumers Over $20 Billion During Holiday Season Shopping
Swipe fees banks charge merchants to process credit card transactions are continuing to rise and could cost consumers well over $20 billion in higher prices this holiday season, according to MPC.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Food Navigator: Rising Credit Card Swipe Fees Squeeze Retailers, But Will Legislation to End 'Visa-Mastercard Duopoly' Pass Before Republicans Take Control of Congress?
"It does not have to be this way," said MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor.
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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.
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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.”
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NACS Daily: Excessive Credit Card Fees in Capitol Spotlight
In his testimony, (MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug) Kantor pointed out that the huge costs of the system, which disproportionately impact lower-income Americans, are “an ongoing problem, and consumers don't know it. Everything about this is hidden from them. They're not aware of the role Visa and MasterCard play. They're not aware of the other processors in the system. They're not given information about the pricing or the fact that there’s any fees at all.”
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American Banker: Republicans to Visa and Mastercard: Figure it out, or we will
Douglas Kantor, (MPC Executive Committee member and) general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores, testified at the hearing that the bill would "introduce market competition where there is none today." "The harm done to merchants, consumers and the U.S. economy due to the anticompetitive actions of the card industry is far too large and should end," Kantor said.
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Mass Market Retailers: Merchants Payments Coalition pushes for "swipe" fee reform at Senate hearing
"Most consumers are unaware of these fees or their significant impact on the cost of goods, services, and the broader economy," said Doug Kantor, MPC Executive Committee member and General Counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. "For merchants, these excessive and ever-increasing fees are a constant financial burden, and for consumers, they significantly contribute to inflation."
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