Digital Transactions: If Top Card Execs Must Testify, So Should Merchant Leaders, CCCA Opponents Argue
“This is an opportunity for the card networks to get their defense of why the profits they will continue to earn from swipe fees won’t be enough to continue funding credit card rewards if the CCCA passes,” says Stephanie Martz, an executive committee member for the Merchants Payments Council and chief administrative officer and general counsel for the National Retail Federation. “Claims the CCCA will take away rewards programs are false.”
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NACS Daily: Sens. Hawley and Reed Co-Sponsor the Credit Card Competition Act
The bill has support from a wide range of small businesses and consumer groups, including the Merchants Payments Coalition. The MPC welcomed the announcement that senators Hawley and Jack Reed have become cosponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act. “This shows that support is growing across the country and across the political spectrum for action that would bring competition to credit card swipe fees,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Grocers Association Chief Government Relations Officer and Counsel Chris Jones said. “We thank Senators Hawley and Reed for supporting Main Street businesses and their customers and look forward to working with them to bring fairness to the credit card market.”
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Merchants Thank Senators Hawley and Reed For Supporting Small Business and Consumers on Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees
MPC welcomed the announcement that Senators Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., have become cosponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act, saying it "shows that support is growing across the country and across the political spectrum for action that would bring competition to credit card swipe fees."
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Payments Dive: Senator calls card CEOs on congressional carpet
While retail industry groups, such as the National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition, have supported the legislation, bank trade groups, such as the Electronic Payments Coalition, have opposed it. On Wednesday, the MPC touted the fact that two more senators, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., joined as co-sponsors of the legislation.
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Financial Regulation News: Credit card “swipe fees” could cost consumers an estimated $578M on Valentine’s Day 2024
“Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, but that special meal out is going to cost a little more for the restaurant and the customer this year, thanks to higher swipe fees,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Restaurant Association Director of Technology and Innovation Policy Brennan Duckett said. “Whether it’s eating out, buying flowers, or choosing an engagement ring, soaring swipe fees drive up the price of everything U.S. consumers buy and impact what couples can afford.”
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Politico Influence: Durbin to Haul in Credit Card, Airline Execs Over Swipe Fees
A dueling coalition of mega retailers that supports Durbin and Marshall’s bill, the Merchants Payments Coalition, cheered the announcement. Stephanie Martz, an executive at the National Retail Federation and a leader at MPC, said in a statement this morning that “there are many questions to be addressed” by the finance execs, whom she accused of making false claims about the swipe fees bill “rather than honestly debating the issues on its merits.”
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: Hearing Scheduled for 'Swipe Fees' Legislation, 'Time for CEOs of Visa and Mastercard to Answer'
“It’s time for the CEOs of Visa and Mastercard to answer for decades of their companies blocking competition over credit card swipe fees,” said Stephanie Martz, MPC executive committee member and National Retail Federation chief administrative officer and general counsel. “There are many questions to be addressed, most of all how they can justify fixing banks’ prices and inflating prices over $1,000 a year for the average family when it costs only pennies to handle a transaction.”
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Merchants Support Call for Testimony by Visa and Mastercard CEOs at Hearing on Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees
MPC welcomed the announcement that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has invited the CEOs of Visa and Mastercard to testify at a hearing on the lack of competition in the credit card market.
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Maryland Daily Record: On Valentine’s Day, credit card swipe fees could cost consumers nearly $578M
Consumers should expect to spend more on Valentine’s Day this year, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition, which estimates that rising swipe fees charged by banks could cause $578 million in higher prices. That total is several million higher than last year’s.
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NACS Daily: Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees Could Cost Consumers Nearly $578 Million on Valentine’s Day
“Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, but that special meal out is going to cost a little more for the restaurant and the customer this year, thanks to higher swipe fees,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Restaurant Association Director of Technology and Innovation Policy Brennan Duckett said. “Whether it’s eating out, buying flowers or choosing an engagement ring, soaring swipe fees drive up the price of everything U.S. consumers buy and impact what couples can afford.”
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