Blusher: Banks Are Collecting Millions Daily in Swipe Fees as Gas Prices Climb, Report Says
As gasoline and diesel prices climb, banks are collecting significantly more in credit card “swipe” fees, with estimates reaching as high as $58 million per day. Data highlighted by the Merchants Payments Coalition shows that because these fees are calculated as a percentage of each transaction, higher fuel prices directly translate into larger revenues for card issuers.
READ MORE +
Merchants Oppose Letting Banks Increase Debit Card Swipe Fees as Consumers Face Affordability Challenges
MPC and member trade associations today urged the Senate Banking Committee to reject a proposal that would allow dozens of large banks to increase the fees they charge merchants to process debit card transactions, saying the move would mean higher prices for consumers.
READ MORE +
Progressive Grocer: Colorado Legislation to Regulate Swipe Fees for Card Networks
ccording to research cited by the Merchants Payment Coalition, swipe fees have jumped around 80% since the pandemic, with Visa and Mastercard setting prices over their 80% share of the market. With the passage of the Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act, Colorado hopes to up the competition by enabling banks with $100 billion in assets to issue cards from other unaffiliated networks. “This is landmark legislation that will save Colorado small businesses and their customers millions of dollars each year and keep that money in the local economy rather than sending off to out-of-state megabanks and global card networks,” commented MPC’s Doug Kantor.
READ MORE +
Capitol Account: OCC Lands in the Center of the Swipe Fee Wars
“The OCC has a long history of being wrong on national bank preemption,” says Doug Kantor, (MPC Executive Committee member and) general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores, which backs the interchange limits. In fact, he pointed out that Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act enacted several provisions designed to rein in the agency. "There seems to be an institutional problem at the OCC where they act more like an advocate for the banking industry than like the regulator,” Kantor opines.
READ MORE +
American Banker: Bitcoin's Overton window of opportunity is closing
Colorado would join Illinois in taking this stand against swipe fees on taxes. And the groups that are supporting this movement don't seem content with just two noncontiguous states. "Other states should take notice," said Doug Kantor, who is on the executive committee of the Merchants Payments Coalition and is general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores.
READ MORE +
Law360: OCC Rules Spur 7th Circ. Remand In Ill. Swipe-Fee Fight
A top official with the Merchants Payments Coalition said his organization is "pleased" Judge Kendall will now “have another chance to tell the OCC they are wrong.” "The OCC's approach of writing a regulation to overturn this law is just a desperate move to try to avoid the courts deciding this issue and it's not going to work," Doug Kantor, the coalition's executive committee member, said. "They have gone to extreme lengths to try to avoid having the court decide this in the normal course of business. Unfortunately, the OCC sees itself as an advocate for the banks rather than a regulator charged with protecting consumers, and that's a problem."
READ MORE +
Capitol Forum: White House and Senate Headed Towards Swipe Fee Showdown
"If we don't have clarity from the 7th Circuit and July 1st hits, then there's a question for the enforcement authorities in Illinois. Do they take action? Obviously, whoever they take action against would challenge it," said Doug Kantor, vice president and general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores (and MPC Executive Committee member). "Hopefully, the 7th Circuit will give everybody clarity. That would be great."
READ MORE +
Merchants Welcome Passage of Colorado Bill to Ban Swipe Fees on Sales Tax
MPC welcomed passage of legislation that would ban credit and debit card swipe fees on sales tax in Colorado and called on Gov. Jared Polis to sign the measure into law as soon as possible.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Lower Swipe Fees, Consumers Save
A new Harvard Business School working paper says "Lower interchange fees lead to increased sales and lower prices.”
READ MORE +
Daily Toll of Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees on Gas and Diesel Tops $60 Million
The amount big banks and card networks may collect in credit card “swipe” fees on gasoline and diesel has now reached as much as $60 million a day, MPC said.
READ MORE +