Consumers Join Credit Card Interchange Fee Fight
| April 27, 2010 |
As all things seemed lost for business owners in the fight against "interchange fees" at least until 2011, it seems that support is coming in by the millions to help reignite this issue. In a effort to have Congress re-evaluate their decision to hold off on making any changes to the industry petitions with millions of signatures have been sent to help showcase the urgency on the growing need to have these fees regulated to help drive down cost to businesses.
In an effort to help regulate interchange fees otherwise known as "credit card swipe fees", over the past two years many companies have asked their customers to sign petitions in hopes that these will change the mind of those in Congress to act sooner than later. While petitions were first mentioned last year by 7-Eleven, which resulted in a staggering number of signatures, these recent petitions were looking to get much more. Although just over 1.5 million were submitted to Congress last year, this year over 2 million have been sent by other organization wanting a change. In all, the over 3 million signatures were much more than expected, and business owners hope that the voice of the people will weigh in heavily with those looking to for re-election in the coming months.
When it comes to interchange fees the fight has been long, and for the most part has fallen on deaf ears of those who have the power to regulate the industry. For many companies, this fee is one that adds up and is labeled as the second largest expense following labor costs. As the fight continues businesses hope that an end is in site and are hoping the voice of the people will prevail. If not, many will be force to find a way to offset these fees and for many the only answer may be to pass it down to the consumer.
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