PYMNTS/CPI: Visa and Mastercard Reach Landmark Settlement to End Longstanding Fee Dispute
The MPC has expressed opposition to the deal, contending that Visa and Mastercard’s fee reductions are insufficient. Jennifer Hatcher, a member of the coalition’s executive committee, said that the proposed cuts apply only to the portion of fees passed to banks, allowing the card networks themselves to potentially raise their own charges. Hatcher warned that “all of the supposed merchant and consumer savings could easily be canceled by Visa and Mastercard increasing their fees.”
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Harlem World: Visa And Mastercard Settle Swipe Fee Lawsuit
The Merchants Payments Coalition criticized the fee reduction as “minimal,” noting that Visa and Mastercard could still raise fees without limitation once temporary reductions expire. The group also argued that merchants have “no choice” but to accept rewards cards, which constitute 85% of all issued cards.
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Finance Magnates: Visa and Mastercard Seek to Close 20-Year Antitrust Case With $38 Billion Deal
Merchant groups were quick to reject the new deal. The National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition said it still leaves businesses paying too much to process card payment.
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Punchbowl News: Senate Ag Moves on Crypto, Plus Credit Card Wars
"The card industry is trying again to get legal protection while offering little in return to merchants," said Jennifer Hatcher, who serves on the executive committee of the Merchants Payments Coalition.
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Payments Dive: Visa, Mastercard reach legal pact with merchants
Big merchant trade groups, including the National Retail Federation and the Merchant Payments Coalition, criticized the settlement as unsatisfactory. “This is a bad deal,” said Doug Kantor, who is general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores as well as an executive committee member for the Merchants Payments Coalition. “It’s not much different than the deal last year that the judge threw out,” he said in a Monday interview. Kantor contended that many standard, non-premium cards already have interchange rates lower than the 1.25% cap. Generally, the card networks will still be able to revise their fees to offset any reductions dictated by the agreement, he said. Overall, he argued that the banks still won’t have sufficient incentive to compete in the credit card marketplace under the new settlement.
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Merchants Say Reported Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement Proposal ‘Fails Once Again and Should be Rejected’
MPC said a proposed settlement reportedly expected to be released soon in longstanding antitrust litigation over Visa and Mastercard’s credit card “swipe” fee practices fails to overcome U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie’s reasons for rejecting the last settlement and should also be rejected.
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MPC Hill Blast: Affordability
Affordability has been the talk of the town. You can read it here, here and here. The credit card industry is fighting against affordability as hard as it can.
READ MORE +MPC Hill Blast: 54,000 More Jobs
That is the number of jobs that would be created in just the first year if we finally had competition among credit card networks. You can read it here.
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Convenience Store News: Merchants Group Cites Big Bank Profits in Push for Swipe Fee Reform
Credit and debit card swipe fees boosting big bank profits underscore the need for congressional action on merchant processing costs, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.
READ MORE +MPC Hill Blast: The Threat to Your Data? Visa Wins the Prize
Starting Oct. 17, Visa began hitting Main Street businesses that won’t give it “comprehensive” data on key transactions with extra swipe fees.
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