Supermarket News: Retailers oppose latest interchange fee settlement offer
“Achieving a settlement that works to reverse current illegal and anticompetitive practices of Visa and Mastercard should be straightforward, but this attempt fails once again and should be rejected,” said Jennifer Hatcher, chief public policy officer at FMI—the Food Industry Association and a member of the executive committee at the Merchant Payments Coalition.
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PYMNTS: SMBs Stand to Gain From Visa and Mastercard ‘Swipe Fees’ Settlement
The Merchants Payments Coalition called fee reduction “minuscule,” and said Visa and Mastercard would be free to raise fees without restrictions after temporary cuts expired. It also said merchants had “no choice” but to accept rewards cards, which make up 85% of all cards issued, and banks could still move cards into different categories, essentially requiring merchants to accept all cards.
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MPC Hill Blast: Asking for Strike 3
The credit card giants have tried multiple times to pull a fast one on Main Street by negotiating antitrust litigation settlements that allow them to continue their anticompetitive practices with legal immunity. According to the Wall Street Journal, they are at it again.
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Punchbowl News: Senate Ag Moves on Crypto, Plus Credit Card Wars
"The card industry is trying again to get legal protection while offering little in return to merchants," said Jennifer Hatcher, who serves on the executive committee of the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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PYMNTS/CPI: Visa and Mastercard Reach Landmark Settlement to End Longstanding Fee Dispute
The MPC has expressed opposition to the deal, contending that Visa and Mastercard’s fee reductions are insufficient. Jennifer Hatcher, a member of the coalition’s executive committee, said that the proposed cuts apply only to the portion of fees passed to banks, allowing the card networks themselves to potentially raise their own charges. Hatcher warned that “all of the supposed merchant and consumer savings could easily be canceled by Visa and Mastercard increasing their fees.”
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Merchants Say Reported Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement Proposal ‘Fails Once Again and Should be Rejected’
MPC said a proposed settlement reportedly expected to be released soon in longstanding antitrust litigation over Visa and Mastercard’s credit card “swipe” fee practices fails to overcome U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie’s reasons for rejecting the last settlement and should also be rejected.
READ MORE +MPC Hill Blast: Affordability
Affordability has been the talk of the town. You can read it here, here and here. The credit card industry is fighting against affordability as hard as it can.
READ MORE +MPC Hill Blast: 54,000 More Jobs
That is the number of jobs that would be created in just the first year if we finally had competition among credit card networks. You can read it here.
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Convenience Store News: Merchants Group Cites Big Bank Profits in Push for Swipe Fee Reform
Credit and debit card swipe fees boosting big bank profits underscore the need for congressional action on merchant processing costs, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
READ MORE +MPC Hill Blast: The Threat to Your Data? Visa Wins the Prize
Starting Oct. 17, Visa began hitting Main Street businesses that won’t give it “comprehensive” data on key transactions with extra swipe fees.
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