Payments Dive: State interchange fee laws progress
Meanwhile, the Merchant Payments Coalition issued a press release Thursday noting that combined debit and credit card fees last year climbed nearly 6% to a record annual $198.25 billion, citing a report from the research firm Nilson Report. “Credit card swipe fees make just about everything Americans buy more expensive,” National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in the MPC release. It’s time to end the “swipe fee ripoff,” said Kantor, who is also an MPC Executive Committee member.
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Digital Transactions: The Card Industry’s Endless War
Merchants argue that prohibition creates cartel pricing, rather than competitive pricing, says Doug Kantor, a Merchants Payments Coalition executive committee member and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. Neither the MPC nor NACS is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “The defendants did not address the court’s concerns in their latest settlement offer,” Kantor says. “They tinkered at the edges a bit, but no major changes were made that addressed the central issue [of the lawsuit].”
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Law360: Ill. Swipe Fee Ruling Sets Stage For A High-Stakes Appeal
The Merchants Payments Coalition called the ruling "a major victory for merchants, their customers and their employees," arguing that merchants are unfairly punished with fees for performing a pass-through service (i.e., collecting taxes remitted to the government and tips given to workers), while consumers bear the ultimate cost through higher prices.[
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Payments Dive: CCCA seeks new path to passage
The timing is unclear, but sponsors of the housing bill, Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are aware of the Marshall-Durbin desire to offer an amendment, said (MPC Executive Committee member) Doug Kantor, who has advocated for the CCCA as general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. Warren has previously supported capping credit card fees. “I think [Scott and Warren] are fully aware that the sponsors of the CCCA will take any opportunity that is presented to them,” Kantor said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re sort of waiting to hear.”
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U.S. Sun: The truth behind the new credit-card swipe fee law as Americans are forced to cough up $1,200 in extra charges
Doug Kantor – of the National Association of Convenience Stores – said increased competition would benefit businesses and consumers. The association is part of the Merchants Payment Coalition. “When the merchant has more money, than they can pay their employees or expand and open a new store — that’s good for everybody,” he said. “When customers have more money in their pockets so that they can buy more things, that’s good for everybody. “It’s good for the economy. It’s good for the customer. So taking that friction out, that really adds up.”
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JD Supra: Federal Court Partially Upholds Illinois Law Limiting Interchange Fees
In 2022, Americans conducted over 89 billion debit card transactions worth $4.0 trillion and over 55 billion credit card transactions worth $5.4 trillion. Interchange fees hit a record $187.2 billion in 2024 according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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CardRates.com: Interchange at Risk in Illinois
Merchant groups came out in support of the ruling, with the Merchant Payments Coalition releasing a statement that labeled it a major victory.
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KNSD-TV: The true cost of credit-card swipe fees and the push to lower them
Doug Kantor is with the National Association of Convenience Stores, which is part of the Merchants Payments Coalition. He said more competition would benefit businesses and consumers. "When the merchant has more money, than they can pay their employees or expand and open a new store — that's good for everybody," Kantor said. "When customers have more money in their pockets so that they can buy more things, that's good for everybody. It's good for the economy. It's good for the customer. So taking that friction out, that really adds up."
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Paint and Decorating Retailer: Valentine’s Day Shoppers Face $683 Million in Credit Card Swipe Fees
“For restaurants, swipe fees are anything but a love story,” says MPC executive committee member and National Restaurant Association director of technology and innovation policy Brennan Duckett. “On one of the year’s biggest dining holidays, these excessive fees raise costs for restaurant operators and for every couple trying to enjoy a special night out. It’s time for Congress to show some love to small businesses and their guests by passing the Credit Card Competition Act.”
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Crain's Chicago Business: Illinois swipe fee ruling marks rare win for retailers — but fight is far from over
“This is a major victory for merchants, their customers and their employees,” Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition and general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores, said in regard to Kendall’s ruling. “Merchants provide a service by collecting taxes and tips that are turned over to the state and to employees, and it is unfair to punish them by charging them price-fixed swipe fees for doing that.”
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