Big-box retailers, led by Walmart and Target, and their allies in Congress continue to distort the truth about interchange in order to help their bottom lines. Data collected by Verisk proves that interchange rates have been stable over the past seven years. Merchant groups like the Merchant Payment Coalition ignore the fact that any increase in interchange costs is directly correlated with and in proportion to increases in purchase volume. Interchange fees have increased largely in proportion to the revenue merchants have collected from credit card customers. There is a direct correlation between merchant profits and the small percentage of fees paid to enable that business growth.
