Law360: Novel Ill. Swipe Fee Law Sparks New Banks V. Retailers Battle
Doug Kantor, (MPC Executive Committee member and) general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores, called the legislation "important and necessary." While NACS does not lobby at the state level and was not involved in negotiating the IFPA, it has encouraged state counterparts around the country to take up the swipe fee cause. "Credit card companies, unseen by almost anyone, take away the sales tax dollars that people give to their local stores before the stores can give it to the state, so those retailers have to dive into their own pockets to make up for the tax shortfall that the credit card industry creates," Kantor said. "It's clearly unjust. Retailers collect those taxes as a service to the state, and they shouldn't be penalized for it."
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Seeking Alpha: Wall Street Breakfast: Swipe Fees
Christopher Jones, executive committee member of Merchants Payments Coalition, argued that the settlement would have locked in cartel pricing and the judge's statement was "in support of justice for merchants and consumers."
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Seeking Alpha: Visa, Mastercard $30B settlement proposal may be rejected
"The judge made a strong statement in support of justice for merchants and consumers," said Christopher Jones, executive committee member, Merchants Payments Coalition. "This settlement would have done nothing to address the problem of how Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) centrally price fix swipe fees. Instead, the settlement would have locked in cartel pricing," he added.
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Venture Capital Post: Visa-Mastercard $30 Billion Swipe Fee Deal Setback as Judge Hints at Rejection
The total amount of swipe fees reached a staggering $172 billion, with a significant increase of over double in the past decade, as reported by the Merchants Payments Coalition. This coalition represents a wide range of businesses including retailers, grocers, convenience stores, and gas stations.
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Convenience Store News: Judge Signals Dismissal of Swipe Fee Settlement
The MPC applauded news of the settlement's likely rejection, calling the deal a "sham" that would have locked in cartel pricing and made the situation worse. "The judge made a strong statement in support of justice for merchants and consumers," said MPC Executive Committee member and National Grocers Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Counsel Christopher Jones. "We appreciate that there was recognition of the fatal flaws that would have made the settlement a bad deal for Main Street rather than a correction of credit card industry violations of the antitrust laws. It’s past time for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to fix this broken market."
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Payments Dive: Landmark Visa, Mastercard settlement in peril
The Merchants Payments Coalition, quickly voiced support for the settlement’s rejection on Thursday. “The judge made a strong statement in support of justice for merchants and consumers,” MPC executive committee member Christopher Jones said in a press release. “This proposed settlement would have done nothing to address the problem of how Visa and Mastercard centrally price fix swipe fees.”
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Investopedia: Visa, Mastercard $30 Billion Swipe-Fee Settlement Likely To Be Tossed
However, critics opposed the plan, among them the Merchants Payments Coalition, a group of businesses that advocates for a more competitive and transparent U.S. payments system. The MPC noted it welcomed the comments from the judge, and Christopher Jones, an executive committee member of the MPC, added that the “there was recognition of the fatal flaws that would have made the settlement a bad deal for Main Street rather than a correction of credit card industry violations of the antitrust laws.”
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Digital Transactions: The Big Credit Card Settlement Now Appears to Be Headed for a Trial. Who Will Win?
“Judge Brodie seems to believe the settlement doesn’t work. The next step is to go to trial,” says (MPC Executive Committee member) Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “That’s the right call and a good thing.”
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NACS Daily: Judge Likely to Reject Proposed Swipe Fee Settlement
“The judge made a strong statement in support of justice for merchants and consumers,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Grocers Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Counsel Christopher Jones said. “We appreciate that there was recognition of the fatal flaws that would have made the settlement a bad deal for Main Street rather than a correction of credit card industry violations of the antitrust laws. It’s past time for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to fix this broken market.”
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CSP Daily News: Judge’s Statement Supports Merchants in Swipe Fee Case
The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed Judge Brodie’s comments indicating that she is likely to reject a proposed class-action settlement over Visa and Mastercard credit card swipe fees. “The judge made a strong statement in support of justice for merchants and consumers,” said Christopher Jones, MPC executive committee member and National Grocers Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Counsel. “We appreciate that there was recognition of the fatal flaws that would have made the settlement a bad deal for Main Street rather than a correction of credit card industry violations of the antitrust laws. It’s past time for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to fix this broken market.”
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