The stage is set for a battle between banks that issue credit cards and retailers who hate their fees. Both are lining up allies on Capitol Hill to fight over a new bill that calls for more competition in the industry. The Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 would require credit card networks other than Visa and Mastercard to be available to merchants for routing transactions. Banks and credit unions are doing what they can to hang on to more fees from credit routing as retailers and merchants fight to lower those fees.
The stakes could be as much as $100 billion. Visa, Mastercard, and their card issuing allies have already characterized the bill as “unnecessary interference in their business”, despite the caveat that only institutions with more than $100 billion in assets will be affected. The National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payment Coalition on the other hand point to the excessive swipe fees year after year. Less clear is how smaller merchants would benefit from the bill, since additional costs to add connections for more networks would probably be required. Smaller community banks that are exempt from the legislation may gain an edge on their larger competitors in the card issuing business. We will be closely watching what will transpire next year as Senators try to get the bill passed.
For merchants tired of paying fees to process credit cards, FEEPASS is the only and best solution for your business. Contact us today to see how we can help you start saving today. The new year is upon us, so we want to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year! May 2023 be a great year for everyone. Thank you.
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