Campaign Unavailable

Campaign Unavailable

We're sorry, this alert is no longer available. If you would like to learn more about ways you can take action, please visit Food Marketing Institute Action Center.

The short explanation of this alert was:

Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA) has introduced the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009, H.R. 2695. This legislation would provide limited antitrust immunity for retailers of all sizes to negotiate across the table from Visa and MasterCard and card-issuing banks. H.R. 2695 is similar to the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008, which was reported out of the House Judiciary Committee last year by a 19 to 16 bi-partisan vote.

Currently, Visa and MasterCard control roughly 80% of the payments card market. They set interchange rates and the banks that issue their cards all charge the same set of fees even though they are supposed to be competitors.  The Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009 would give retailers an opportunity to negotiate these rates, and would help restore competition to this broken market. We strongly encourage you to contact your Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2695.

If you would like to view details on this alert, please visit here.