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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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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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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CSP Daily News: Retailers oppose latest interchange fee settlement offer
“Achieving a settlement that works to reverse current illegal and anticompetitive practices of Visa and Mastercard should be straightforward, but this attempt fails once again and should be rejected,” said Jennifer Hatcher, chief public policy officer at FMI—the Food Industry Association and a member of the executive committee at the Merchant Payments Coalition.
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MPC Hill Blast: Asking for Strike 3
The credit card giants have tried multiple times to pull a fast one on Main Street by negotiating antitrust litigation settlements that allow them to continue their anticompetitive practices with legal immunity. According to the Wall Street Journal, they are at it again.
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Supermarket News: Retailers oppose latest interchange fee settlement offer
“Achieving a settlement that works to reverse current illegal and anticompetitive practices of Visa and Mastercard should be straightforward, but this attempt fails once again and should be rejected,” said Jennifer Hatcher, chief public policy officer at FMI—the Food Industry Association and a member of the executive committee at the Merchant 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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Digital Transactions: A Deal Looks No Closer In Merchants’ Long-Running Legal Battle Over Acceptance Fees
Merchant opposition to the expected settlement offer is driven by the networks’ failure to create a payments ecosystem that enables true pricing competition concerning acceptance costs, merchant groups argue. “That’s the central problem, and the settlement does not address it,” says Doug Kantor, a Merchants Payments Coalition executive committee member and general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “[The central problem] remains the reason why the lawsuit was brought in the first place.” The MPC, NACS, and the National Retail Federation issued statements Sunday opposing the expected settlement and calling for it to be rejected by the court.
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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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Hoodline: Honolulu Shops Brace For Swipe-Fee Shakeup As Visa, Mastercard Pitch $38B Deal
Retail trade groups didn’t mince words. The National Retail Federation labeled the draft agreement “all window dressing and no substance” and urged Judge Margo Brodie to reject it, arguing a tiny basis‑point trim won’t fix systems that let banks centrally set fees, per an NRF press release. The Merchants Payments Coalition and small‑business advocates also warned that because most consumer cards are rewards cards, merchants may have limited ability to steer customers toward cheaper options.
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