Stop Visa, Mastercard from Gouging Merchants & Consumers
Retailers Urge Senators to Stop Credit Card Fees Increase
- By [ Austen Jensen ]
- 09/13/2023
“Retailers are fed-up with the outrageous fees charged by Visa, Mastercard and Wall Street Banks for credit card transactions. These fees are already exorbitant and are based on a broken system—Visa and Mastercard keep increasing them because there is no competition allowed in the market to stop them.
QUICK FACTS:
- In 2022, merchants paid over 20 percent more on credit card swipe fees than they did in 2021, resulting in a grand total of $93.2 billion in credit card interchange fees.
- American merchants—retailers, restaurants, contractors and anyone that accept credit cards—pay five times more in swipe fees for the exact same transaction than VISA and Mastercard charge businesses in other countries. Over the last 10 years, total U.S. merchant card acceptance costs have increased by an average of 9% annually – that’s approximately $9.4bn in additional cost burden every year.
“Congress needs to act and put an end to this duopoly by passing the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act which will inject more competition into the credit card market.
“Senators Durbin, Marshall, Vance and Welch have championed the Credit Card Competition Act and are ready to bring this needed legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. Retailers urge all Senators to prioritize American families and Main Street business over Wall Street Banks, Visa and Mastercard and vote in favor of the Credit Card Competition Act.”
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RILA is the US trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to elevate a dynamic industry by transforming the environment in which retailers operate.
RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $2.7 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and hundreds of thousands of stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.
