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Amend H.R. 627
The House of Representatives is going to vote on H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights next week. During the debate, Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) and Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA) are going to offer an amendment to try to address out of control credit card interchange fees.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Stop Outrageous Merchant Credit Card Fees!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing to express my strong support for an amendment on credit card interchange fees to be offered by Congressmen Peter Welch (D-VT) and Bill Shuster (R-PA) when H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights is considered on the House floor in the next few days. Interchange fees are uncontrollable and one of the largest business costs our business faces. Addressing these out of control fees is a very necessary part of comprehensive credit card industry consumer protection reforms as rising interchange fee costs significantly impact our ability to keep prices low for customers.
Curbing abusive credit card industry practices without addressing interchange fees is unrealistic. These hidden fees have tripled since 2001 and last year cost Main Street businesses and American consumers, who are struggling to get by in this tough economy, roughly $48 billion. Just this month yet another fee increase was announced. There is a complete lack of competition and transparency in the current system as Visa and MasterCard and the big credit card companies use their market power to set anticompetitive interchange rates and contract terms.
The Welch-Shuster amendment will eliminate the anticompetitive rules Visa and MasterCard impose on merchants, allowing merchants, for the first time in regard to card acceptance, fundamental decision-making rights in how they run their business. This amendment will also increase transparency in the payments card industry and make the true cost of card acceptance evident to consumers who have also been deprived of the right to make an informed decision regarding their choice of payment.
I strongly encourage you to support the Welch amendment when it is offered on the House floor in an effort to bring much-needed competition and transparency to the credit card industry and to provide needed relief for small businesses and consumers struggling to stay afloat.
Sincerely,
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