Furniture Today: Forget Spy Balloons; Retail Group Says China a Credit Card Security Threat
The Merchants Payment Coalition says passage of the Credit Card Competition Act would add a layer of safeguarding, keeping China from “infiltrating” the U.S. payments processing market.
READ MORE +American Prospect: Small Businesses Rise to Fight Wall Street
Though founded over a decade ago, MPC’s efforts have undergone a resurgence since the pandemic, with a stronger grassroots presence. “There’s a lot of energy right now behind this issue and it’s only going to keep building as fees continue to go up,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores and a founder of the Merchants Payments Coalition.
READ MORE +Merchants Tell Congress Credit Card Competition Act Would Block National Security Threat from China UnionPay
The Merchants Payments Coalition told a House committee holding a hearing on economic threats from China that passage of the Credit Card Competition Act is needed to keep China from “infiltrating” the U.S. payments processing market.
READ MORE +Wilmington News-Journal: This is Why Delaware Needs Relief from Rising Credit Card 'Swipe' Fees
For most merchants, these fees are their highest operating cost after labor and drive up prices by $900 a year for the average Delaware family, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
READ MORE +CStore Decisions: Credit Card Swipe Fees to Cost Consumers for Valentine's Day
Recently reported by the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), rising swipe fees banks charge merchants to process credit and debit card transactions could potentially cost consumers over $500 million in higher prices for Valentine’s Day items this year. “There’s nothing romantic about swipe fees,” Doug Kantor, MPC executive committee member and National Association for Convenience Stores (NACS) general counsel, said
READ MORE +NACS Daily: Swipe Fees Could Cost Consumers Almost $600 Million This Valentine's Day
Swipe fees that banks charge merchants to process credit and debit card transactions could potentially cost consumers more than $500 million in higher prices for everything from cards and candy to roses and rings this Valentine’s Day, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC).
READ MORE +Credit Card 'Swipe' Fees Could Cost Consumers Over $500 Million on Valentine's Day
Rising swipe fees banks charge merchants to process credit and debit card transactions could potentially cost consumers over $500 million in higher prices for everything from cards and candy to roses and rings this Valentine’s Day, MPC said.
READ MORE +San Francisco Examiner: Credit Card 'Swipe Fees' Are Out of Control. The Reason is Lack of Competition
Swipe fees are far too much for merchants to absorb and must be included in retail pricing, costing the average California family an estimated $900 a year, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
READ MORE +Payments Dive: What Payments Can Expect From Washington This Year
“There’s just much more activity and concern about these payments issues than has been true maybe at any other time,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. ... “It’s a new Congress where there’s a lot of potential avenues, legislatively,” said Kantor, who is also an executive committee member for the trade group Merchants Payments Coalition. Last year, “the menu of what was going to occur was much more limited.”
READ MORE +Mountain Money: Credit Card Competition Act
The Credit Card Competition Act is set to end Visa and Mastercard’s longstanding monopoly over how transactions on credit cards issued under their brands are routed for processing. Credit Card swipe fees in the US are the highest in the industrialized world. The Credit Card Competition Act was introduced to Congress in July, and its bipartisan sponsors (Senators Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Representatives Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Lance Gooden, R-Texas) are hoping for action in 2023. Over 1,802 merchants and 236 merchant trade associations have shown their support for the legislation through letters submitted to lawmakers by the Merchant Payment Coalition. Joining us this morning to help us understand this is MPC Executive Committee member and National Association for Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor
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