Retailers Applaud Decision To Reject Flawed Swipe Settlement

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement in response to U.S. Judge Margo K. Brodie’s decision to reject the proposed Visa, Mastercard (b)(2) class settlement on swipe fees:

"The credit card payment market has been broken for decades. Leading retailers are grateful that Judge Brodie saw through the façade of the proposed settlement and understood that it would not provide the meaningful change that is needed to correct the competitive imbalance in the interchange ecosystem. 

“The fact that Visa/MasterCard agreed to a settlement proves that merchants deserve injunctive relief – but the rules changes must actually level the playing field for all parties. The proposed settlement did nothing of the kind. Leading retailers are relieved the settlement deal has been rejected so that the next steps in this long-fought legal battle can move forward. 

"And while the wheels of justice continue to churn in this case, make no mistake that today’s rejection of the flawed proposed rules changes doesn’t in any way lift Congress’s responsibility to fix the anticompetitive credit card market. The credit card payment system will remain dysfunctional until federal legislation is passed. Congress should not allow this case to be a distraction from passing the Credit Card Competition Act to bring true competition to a broken market."

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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.
 

Tags

• Payments
• Supporting Free Markets and Fostering Innovation
• Competition