Merchants Still Pushing for Credit Card ‘Swipe’ Fee Reform Following Surge of Support During Stablecoin Debate
MPC said members will continue to push for passage of the Credit Card Competition Act following a significant boost in momentum gained during Senate consideration of the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill.
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Bloomberg: Banks v. Retailers, Again
“We’re not giving up,” said Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, whose members include the National Restaurant Association, the National Retail Federation and the National Grocers Association. “If we don’t get a vote here, there will be other opportunities we will pursue.”
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MPC Hill Blast: Broad, Overwhelming Support for the Marshall-Durbin Amendment
Support for the Marshall-Durbin Amendment/Credit Card Competition Act, which would create some much-needed competition for credit card companies where none exists today, is much broader than you might think.
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American Prospect: Crypto Thought They Bought Congress. They Bought a Headache.
Banks and credit unions are working against the amendment with their partners at the credit card firms, even getting Vice President JD Vance to support a “clean” GENIUS Act. Visa and Mastercard also have the support of the airlines, which over the years have become flying banks with branded credit cards. The Merchant Payments Coalition, on the other side, has worked for years to deal with “hidden credit card fees” that are affecting their members.
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Digital Transactions: Battle Lines Harden Over a Proposed CCCA Amendment to the GENIUS Act
“Labor’s position is very clear here, some of the largest unions in the country support the CCCA,” says Doug Kantor, an executive committee member for the Merchants Payments Coalition and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “While there are unions that do not support the amendment, they are tiny in comparison.”
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The West News: Credit Card Competition Act: A Closer Look at the Swipe-Fee Reform
Groups like the Merchants Payments Coalition say lower fees could translate to cheaper goods, or at least slower price increases.
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Merchants Say Endorsement by Unions Shows ‘People Who Work for a Living’ Want Credit Card Swipe Fee Reform
MPC welcomed the endorsement of the Credit Card Competition Act by four of the nation’s largest unions – the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, the Service Employees International Union and the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.
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New York Times: How a crypto bill could clamp down on credit card fees
“There’s desperate need for a change,” Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, told DealBook, “and the legislation itself is the lightest possible touch in terms of a change.”
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Punchbowl News: Lobbyists duel over swipe fee push
We spoke to two key lobbyists. Richard Hunt leads the bank- and payment-company backed Electronic Payments Coalition, and Doug Kantor is a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition. Both are projecting confidence. “We’re advocating for the Marshall-Durbin amendment all the ways we know how,” Kantor said. “We’ve had folks here every month since the beginning of the year, and we have folks here again this week too.” ... Kantor argued the CCCA would loosen the dominance of large credit card players. “You need the Credit Card Competition Act in order to clear the way for stablecoin to see its potential, because otherwise the big credit card companies will lock it, dominate it,” Kantor said. As for a vote: Both lobbies think they’ll win a vote on the CCCA if it comes to the floor. “We’ve had these conversations with every office multiple times, and we have a pretty good feel for where people are,” Kantor said.
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MarketWatch: Battle over credit-card swipe fees hits Congress again. What you need to know.
The Merchants Payments Coalition, a lobbying group for retailers and other companies that support the credit-card legislation, said in a recent statement that it’s “time for Congress to deal with the hidden credit-card fees driving up the prices of nearly everything we buy.”
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