Credit Card Fees Could Swipe a Dozen Easter Eggs and Cost Consumers Over $500 Million
Rising “swipe” fees big banks and credit card networks charge merchants to process transactions could cost the average consumer the equivalent of a dozen eggs this Easter and potentially total over half a billion dollars nationwide, MPC said.
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Gifts and Decorative Accessories: Merchants Call for Action as Swipe Fees Rise to '$1,000 Per Family'
The Merchants Payments Coalition is calling on Congress and the Federal Reserve to move quickly to address credit and debit card swipe fees, citing new data showing the fees increased dramatically again last year and now cost the average family more than $1,000 a year.
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Merchants Call for Action as Swipe Fees Rise Again
MPC called on Congress and the Federal Reserve to move quickly to address credit and debit card swipe fees, citing new data showing the fees increased dramatically again last year and now cost the average family over $1,000 a year.
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In Case You Missed It -- Small Businesses February 2023
In case you've missed it, here's a look at what small businesses are saying about credit card swipe fees...
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Supermarket News: Credit Unions Attack the Credit Card Competition Act
In response to the letter, Doug Kantor, executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, said in a statement that credit unions will be helped by the Credit Card Competition Act. He noted that the bill applies only to financial institutions with at least $100 billion in assets and that only one credit union in the nation meets that test.
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Payments Dive: Battle Over Expected Durbin Bill Ensures
“Only one credit union in the entire nation meets that test and the rest are exempt,” National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in response to the letter. “And, the exempt institutions would be more attractive to Visa and Mastercard – helping those small credit unions overcome the disadvantage they have in the market today.”
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Payments Dive: Retailers Oppose Banks Seeking More Time on Debit Routing Rule
The Merchants Payments Coalition opposed the banks’ request for a deadline extension. The merchant and retail trade group argued in the release that it’s high time the card issuers and networks adhere to regulations put in place years ago. National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor contended they don’t deserve any additional time. “Congress told banks and card networks a dozen years ago to implement routing choice for all debit card transactions and that meant both in-store and online,” said Kantor, who is also an MPC executive committee member. “That law has saved merchants and their customers billions of dollars for in-store transactions, but the card industry has continued its anticompetitive practices when it comes to online transactions.”
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Merchants Say Fed Should Not Delay Move to Increase Competition Over Online Debit Transactions
MPC said the Federal Reserve should turn down a request from banks to delay implementation of its long-sought clarification that merchants’ right to choose which payment networks process debit card transactions applies the same online as it does in stores.
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Credit Unions Today: 'Nothing Romantic' About Swipe Fees on Valentine's Day, Says Merchant Group
The MPC cited data from the national Retail Federation that show consumers are expected to spend an average $193 on Valentine’s Day items such as candy, flowers, jewelry, greeting cards, clothing and evenings out this year for a total of $25.9 billion. Based on the average 2.22% rate for Visa and Mastercard, that would include $4.28 in swipe fees – as much as a Valentine’s greeting card or a piece of chocolate from a mid-priced gift box – and would add up to $575 million nationwide if all purchases were made with credit cards, according to the MPC.
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Digital Transactions: Georgia Takes Aim at Interchange Levied on Sales Tax
In general, these swipe fees are one of the highest operating costs for merchants, after labor, and are typically built into pricing, which drives up the cost of goods and services for the average family by about $1,000 a year, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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