Barron's: Visa and Mastercard Get Nearly All Credit Card Swipe Fees. A New Bill Wants to Break Their Hold
“The Credit Card Competition Act would bring much-needed relief to retailers and American consumers by simply requiring that Visa and Mastercard compete with other networks for both merchant and bank business,” the Merchants Payments Coalition, which represents merchant trade groups, said in the letter.
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NACS Daily: Nearly 1,700 Merchants Call on Congress to Support Swipe Fee Legislation
The letters—signed by 1,668 companies and 231 trade associations—were sent to all members of the House and Senate by the Merchants Payments Coalition. Both asked lawmakers to co-sponsor or support S. 4674, the Credit Card Competition Act, which was introduced in July by Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Marshall (R-Kan.). Signers include retailers, grocers, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, hotels and a wide variety of other merchants of all sizes, along with associations representing the same sectors.
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Wall Street Journal: Walmart, Target Urge Lawmakers to Pass Bill Taking Aim at Visa, Mastercard Fees
Hundreds of small retailers were among nearly 1,700 merchants signing an MPC letter to Congress: “Swipe fees for credit cards are higher in the United States than anywhere else in the industrialized world—more than seven times as high as Europe,” said the merchant group, which includes a diverse assortment of small businesses like gas stations, restaurants and grocers along with giant chain retailers. “In 2021 alone, U.S. merchants and consumers paid nearly $138 billion in card fees.”
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Nearly 1,700 Merchants From Small to Large Ask Congress to Support Bipartisan Credit Card Competition Legislation
More than 200 merchant trade associations and close to 1,700 companies ranging from Main Street small businesses to national chains called on Congress to support legislation sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin and Roger Marshall that would finally bring badly needed competition to the credit card market.
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Kansas Merchants Meet with Marshall on Need for Competition Over Credit Card 'Swipe' Fees
Merchants from across Kansas met with Senator Roger Marshall to emphasize how lack of competition over credit card processing drives up prices paid by consumers and thanked him for introducing the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act.
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Wall Street Journal: Why Using Your Credit Card is Getting More Expensive
The cost to process a credit card transaction has gone up and many businesses are passing that on to the consumer. WSJ explains the hidden fees behind using your card, and what Congress is trying to do about them.
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The Economist: Can the Visa-Mastercard Duopoly Be Broken?
The system of interchange -- whereby banks and credit card companies charge merchants for collecting payments -- is loathed by many retailers. Merchants hand over some $138 billion in fees each year, according to the National Retail Federation.
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Supermarket News: FMI, NGA Endorse Credit Card Competition Act
Both FMI and NGA are members of the Merchants Payments Coalition, which for nearly two decades has fought for swipe fee reform, including the passage in 2010 of the Durbin Amendment, a landmark law that prevents financial institutions from price-gouging debit interchange fees and led to increased competition and transparency in the debit marketplace.
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Payments Dive: Let the Credit Card Battle Begin
While trade groups representing the card networks and their financial institution partners, like the Electronic Payments Coalition, are already vocally attacking the bill, large merchant groups, such as the National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition, are predictably egging the legislation on.
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Retail Customer Experience: Swipe Fees Will Add $2.5B to Back-to-School Spending
The swipe fees banks charge retailers to process credit cards will add an estimated $2.5 billion to the cost of everything, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition. That amounts to almost $20 in swipe fees for the average family, according to a press release from the coalition, or the price of a lunch box. "Swipe fees are a hidden tax on almost everything Americans buy regardless of whether they pay with cards or cash," MPC executive committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in the release.
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