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.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor legislation that would give retailers an opportunity to negotiate the only expense we have no ability to control in our business: credit card interchange fees. The Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009 (H.R. 2695), introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA), would give retailers a vehicle to address the anticompetitive setting of credit card interchange fees by Visa and MasterCard.

Credit card giants Visa and MasterCard account for over 80% of the payments card market allowing them to collectively set interchange fees with their card issuing banks. This leaves retailers and consumers without a seat at the negotiating table. As a retailer, I understand the importance of competition in the market, and believe the creation of an open and transparent negotiation process is important to making interchange fees known to all retailers and consumers. It is also imperative that merchants of all sizes, from the single-store owner to the multi-state operator, be allowed to negotiate as a group with the credit card giants to ensure a balanced and competitive marketplace where we are able to provide low prices for our customers.

Interchange fees average roughly 2% of each card transaction, which creates an extreme burden for a business like mine that already operates on razor thin profit margins of not much more than 1 to 2%. I understand that credit card companies should be able to make a profit for providing this convenient service, but the rates and terms of card acceptance should be fair and reasonable, which they are not in the current environment. These fees have increased at out of control levels - they have tripled from $16 billion in 2001 to $48 billion in 2008 - making it nearly impossible for my business to absorb the cost of accepting plastic as the number of electronic payment transactions continues to rise.

The Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009, H.R. 2695, will provide transparency in the payments card industry and restore competition to the interchange fee setting process. I strongly encourage you to support this legislation to help restore balance to this broken market that is harming both retailers and consumers.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 18, 2009