Capitol News Illinois: Illinois’ ‘swipe fee’ law on the brink after another delay, adverse court ruling
The Merchant Payments Coalition, a group of retailers and similar businesses that advocates on credit and debit card issues, argued the new rule gives financial institutions dangerously broad fee-setting authority. “The revised language could apply broadly to numerous categories of consumer financial charges, including late fees, overdraft or over-limit fees, annual card fees, ATM fees and similar charges,” the MPC said in a statement. “By eliminating the expectation of independent competitive pricing, the rule risks encouraging industry-wide fee standardization at the expense of consumers and merchants alike.”
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Mass Market Retailers: Delay of Illinois swipe fee law will cost consumers and businesses $500 million
“Big banks’ scare tactics are costing hard working people in Illinois real money,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “$500 million may seem like pennies to credit card giants like Visa and Mastercard, but when people lose more of their money to credit card swipe fees they won’t be happy. It is mind-boggling with people concerned about affordability that credit card companies can continue to drag their feet on complying with the law – and make the people of Illinois pay the price.”
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Swipe Fee Law Delay Will Cost Illinois Consumers and Businesses $500 Million
MPC blamed bank “scare tactics” for Illinois delaying its ban on swipe fees on sales tax and tips and said the delay is estimated to elevate costs in Illinois by $500 million over the next year above what they would have been.
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Capitol Account: Banks Notch Wins in Illinois Swipe Fee Fight, as OCC Draws New Criticism
The Merchants Payments Coalition, which represents retailers, made a similar case, pointing out that the OCC’s regulation is supposed to ensure that bank fees are subject to market competition. The rule would allow a way around that, the association argued, by letting banks rely on other companies. “This is a fundamental reversal of the OCC’s longstanding recognition,” the coalition contended. “By eliminating the expectation of independent competitive pricing, the rule risks encouraging industry-wide fee standardization at the expense of consumers and merchants.”
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Payments Dive: Illinois lawmakers again delay card fee law
The Merchant Payments Coalition urged the federal agency to drop its rule. “The OCC’s interim final rule and order directly contradict President Trump’s call to end the “swipe fee rip-off” by preserving and endorsing a system in which card networks set the card fees that banks charge merchants,” the group said in its Friday letter.
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Digital Transactions: The Illinois IFPA Implementation Date Is Extended Again
Meanwhile, the Merchant Payments Coalition, which has advocated for the measure, says the delay was unfortunate. “The law ought to go into effect at this point,” Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the MPC, tells Digital Transactions News. “Understand that the banks are throwing around misinformation that people get nervous about,” Kantor says. “The only issue in Illinois is the credit card industry is dragging its feet and tried to throw obstacles at it. We look forward to the law eventually going into effect.”
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Merchants Call on OCC to Drop Swipe Fee Rule, Saying Price-Fixing Impact Could Go ‘Far Beyond’ Credit Cards
MPC urged the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to withdraw a pending rule intended to block state laws on credit card swipe fees, saying the measure endorses price-fixing that could drive up a wide range of fees banks charge both merchants and consumers.
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Westlaw Today: Merchants ask OCC to reverse swipe fee preemption
The Merchants Payments Coalition urged the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday to withdraw its recent move to nullify state-level swipe fee bans.
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News Anyway: The Credit Card Swipe Fee War , Main Street Retailers Take on Visa and Mastercard
The Merchants Payments Coalition has persisted in advocating for legislative action, especially with regard to routing changes akin to those implemented for debit card transactions following the 2010 Dodd-Frank reforms.
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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.
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