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“U.S. congressional auditors said it would be hard to identify savings to consumers if lower credit card charges to merchants were to be imposed.”
Reuters
“Proposals to cut the fees credit card issuers charge merchants would be challenging to implement, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Thursday.”
Dow Jones
“Perhaps more vexing, Australian merchants, including retailers, restaurants and airlines, are imposing surcharges for each credit card transaction, even though fees the merchants pay card companies have fallen steeply.”
New York Times
"For a small financial institution such as OSU Federal, [Rick Hein, president and CEO of OSU Federal] said, interchange fees are the only way to offset risk factors such as losses from data security breaches."
Corvallis Gazette-Times
"With all the extraordinary pressures already facing community banks, restricting their flexibility to extend credit and squeezing their earnings, limiting the income represented by interchange fees would be more cruel and unusual punishment."
BankNews
“…the back-of-the-cab swipe has emerged as an unlikely savior for New York’s taxi industry, even as other cities’ fleets struggle to find fares in a deep recession.”
New York Times
"But for Anderson, going without credit and debit transactions ‘just wouldn't work for our business model. We would lose so much of our business.’"
New Hampshire Business Review
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Hear about how interchange fees are an essential part of the credit card system and that any decrease in the fees paid by merchants will just shift the cost to consumers.
WFAA - Good Morning Texas
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“While retailers claim they would pass the savings on to shoppers in the form of lower prices, card companies argue the legislation will make credit less convenient and more costly—and they may be right.”
BusinessWeek
“For years, merchants have pursued legislation and legal action aimed at lowering or eliminating their costs of accepting electronic payments - claiming this is to protect their customers who would see lower prices as a result. But what it's really about is protecting their profits and shifting costs to the general consumer.”
American Banker
“Meanwhile, the actual percentage of transaction required to be paid as interchange has decreased to the lowest levels we've seen all decade.”
The Atlantic Magazine Online
“Although the House Financial Services Committee finally held its first discussion Thursday on whether to restrict bank interchange fees, the hearing served chiefly to dispel the idea that the panel was eager to legislate on the issue.”
American Banker
“If Congress acts on 7-Eleven's misleading petition to put price controls on interchange fees, consumers will pay the price through the reduction of credit card reward programs such as frequent flier miles, and the possible return of annual fees.”
American Banker
“Contrary to the spin of the 7-Eleven and other big retailers, interchange fees, also called "swipe fees," are only levied on merchants, and none of the major legislation currently before Congress would require retailers to pass on one penny of their resulting savings to consumers.”
Wall Street Journal
"There is absolutely no reason to believe merchants would lower prices if interchange fees were lower.”
US News and World Report
“[Commerce restaurant co-owner, Tony Zazula] said the convenience and security afforded by going cashless are well worth the added cost.”
Wall Street Journal
“Officially called the “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” it ought to be called the Chain Store Swindle Act, because it will boost the profits of the nation’s largest retail chains at the expense of nearly everyone else.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution
“First, the bill contains no rule requiring retailers to pass along the savings they enjoy from lower interchange fees. More likely, they will pocket the extra profit. Second, the predictable effect of lower interchange rates for retailers will be higher fees on cardholders.”
The Janesville Gazette
“Conyers’ bill — unlike an earlier version — does not specify that merchants must pass on savings to consumers. They also claim that the push is not being made on behalf of mom and pop business owners, as the merchants’ group claims, but, rather, is being bankrolled by big retailers.”
Politico
“No one likes to pay fees, but most retailers don’t mind paying a reasonable rate for the services they receive. Consumers would get no benefit from such action. Last year the house judiciary committee rejected a bill that would require retailers to pass on the savings to consumers.”
Tri-State Defender
“The moaning merchants claim they are fighting for their customers. I'm not so sure. Isn't it more likely that if their margins are tightening they'll just pocket the amount saved on lower fees?”
The Washington Post
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How YOU Can Protect Your Credit - Simply By Using Your Card. Watch this CNBC clip!
CNBC
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“Government price controls on interchange fees will shrink rewards programs and force increases in annual cardholder fees - as happened in Australia in 2001, when the Reserve Bank of Australia capped interchange fees.”
Washington Times
"An antitrust waiver for the merchants would amount to a congressional attempt to rig a deal in the merchants’ favor. If it succeeded, it too would be likely to yield increased fees to customers. And, to repeat, the merchants are not being victimized. They just want a better deal. Which is fine: but they should not get one through an act of Congress."
National Review
"American consumers will be harmed by the Credit Card Fair Fee Act because it is seeded in price controls and price controls cause shortages, reduce competition and innovation, and consequently force consumers to dip further into their wallets."
Washington Times
"It would be hard to think of a more unqualified example of a free-market success [than the electronic payments system], one that daily proves its value anew to the millions of consumers and merchants who willingly use cards for payment."
The Boston Globe
"Crippling Visa and MasterCard through regulation would decrease consumer choice and buying power, and ultimately hurt the merchants who are calling for it."
The New York Sun
"The Conyers-Cannon bill requires that . . . if the parties can't agree, a three-person panel of "electronic payment judges" will "determine rates and terms" which shall be binding. That sounds like a price-control regime."
The Wall Street Journal
"The many credit card companies, their bank clients and the millions of merchants who accept the cards have freely negotiated fees for decades, much as businesses negotiate prices with each other for goods and services."
Washington Times
"The case for regulating card acceptance fees has never been weaker. . . . The payment market has never been more competitive, and network competition, differentiation, and innovation are increasing."
American Banker
"Any attempt to call the fees a so-called hidden tax would be similar to trying to misrepresent businesses' rent or salaries for employees as a 'hidden tax' on their customers, the coalition said."
The Deseret Morning News
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