Digital Transactions: Is eBay’s Decision to Drop AmEx a Ploy To Negotiate Lower Acceptance Costs?
EBay’s move to drop AmEx is also seen by merchant advocates as an indication that sellers are increasingly put off by what they view as the high cost of card acceptance, which is typically measured by the interchange rate, or the percentage of the sale paid by merchants to processors. “Whether it is a small merchant tacking on a surcharge to cover card-acceptance costs or a move to stop accepting a card, there is no question merchants of all sizes are fed up with the high cost of interchange,” says Doug Kantor, an MPC executive committee member and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores.
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RVBusiness: OHI Representatives on Capitol Hill for RVs Move America Week
One of these new relationships is OHI’s recently announced alliance with the Merchants Payments Coalition, a group of more than 20 associations in the retail, restaurant and hotel industry united specifically on the passage of the Credit Card Competition Act. The average RV park and campground in the United States is paying thousands of dollars each month in credit card swipe fees—accumulated every time a camper uses a credit card to reserve a campsite online or in person, or purchases goods at the camp store. The Credit Card Competition Act would break up the stranglehold Visa and Mastercard have on creating these fees, which will increase competition, lower fees for businesses like RV parks and campgrounds that run credit-card transactions.
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Digital Transactions: The Fed Touches Off the Latest Interchange Battle
Both the NRF and the MPC contend the Fed’s proposed rate reduction would give debit issuers average profit margins of 270%, which they say is nine times the 30% average profit margins large banks make on their businesses overall. “The [debit interchange] rate ought to be capped at 6 cents per transaction, as the average cost of a debit transaction for banks is 3.9 cents,” says Doug Kantor, an MPC executive committee member and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “[Large] banks earn a 35% margin on debit transactions, which is higher than the profit margin on their business as a whole.”
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Digital Transactions: Is the CCCA’s Fate All About Marketing?
Issue-oriented campaigns, especially those centered on a bill or referendum, are about hope and fear, says Kent Syler, a professor of political science and public policy at Middle Tennessee State University. In the case of the CCCA, the MPC is offering a message of hope while the EPC is pitching a message of fear. “Fear is a big motivator in politics, and when dealing with change the fear side has an advantage unless the status quo is so egregious that no one is happy with it,” says Syler, who served as a Congressional aide for 26 years. “Introducing an element of risk that changing the status can hurt you can be a very effective message, because people tend to be risk-averse by nature.”
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Woodall's Campground Magazine: OHI Joins Coalition to Advocate for Lower Credit Card Fees
OHI, formerly the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, which represents the RV parks, campgrounds, and “glamping” businesses that make up the outdoor hospitality industry, has announced it has joined the Merchants Payments Coalition in an effort to fight to lower credit card fees for its valued members.
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Outdoor Hospitality Industry Joins Merchants Payments Coalition
MPC announced that OHI, the national voice of the Outdoor Hospitality Industry, which represents recreational vehicle parks, campgrounds and “glamping” businesses, has joined the coalition.
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Modern Campground: OHI, Merchants Payments Coalition Work Together to Reduce Credit Card Fees for RV Parks, Campgrounds
OHI, formerly known as the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, has joined the Merchants Payments Coalition to lower credit card fees for RV parks, and campgrounds.
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Motley Fool: Bull Market Buys: 3 Dow Stocks to Own for the Long Run
In this vein, the Merchants Payments Coalition reports total swipe fees collected by credit card middlemen grew from $160 billion in 2022 to a record-breaking $172 billion last year, reflecting the impact of this shift. Again, however, there's plenty more room for this trend to continue.
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Digital Transactions: Merchants Get an Extension to File Monetary Claims in the Big Credit Card Settlement
The court’s decision to grant a filing extension is not a surprise, as it is not unusual from an administrative standpoint to grant plaintiffs extra time to file claims for monetary awards, says Doug Kantor, an MPC executive committee member and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores.
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Financial World: Visa and Mastercard Settle Long-Running Dispute with Merchants
The Merchants Payments Coalition, representing a broad array of retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, and online merchants, has voiced concerns that the temporary fee reductions are insufficient. “The settlement does nothing to actually bring competitive market forces to swipe fees or change the behavior of a cartel that centrally fixes rates and bars competition,” said Christopher Jones, a member of the coalition’s executive committee and senior vice president of government relations at the National Grocers Association. He argued that the settlement offers only token, temporary relief, allowing card companies to raise rates again in the future.
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