Members of the
Committee chairman
"Americans are rightly worried about inflation and rising prices. What they may not know is that swipe fees contribute to this problem.
"When swipe fees on credit & debit cards go up, like they did just two weeks ago, it increases inflationary pressures-and consumers pay the price," the
Both companies changed their interchange fees
"The credit and debit card systems are not competitive marketplaces," Durbin said during the committee meeting.
"It's a sweetheart deal for the dominant networks, for the biggest banks and for certain cardholders who have ritzy rewards programs, but the average small business and the consumer, they pay the price."
While larger companies may be able to negotiate lower fees with the credit card companies, smaller or independent businesses have no such leverage.
"Merchants and customers take it on the chin. What can merchants do to keep the fee rates down? Not much," said Durbin.
"Bottom line, when fees go up it costs more to use money and that cost gets billed into prices consumers pay.
"The CMSPI estimates that the total impact of these [swipe fee] changes are
"Bringing the whole picture together,
Retailers also took aim at the credit card companies during the hearing.
"When the price of goods go up, what's happening is the credit card companies are getting a higher percentage on a higher sale. So that means there's more costs that we have to bear and pass along to our customers," Giant Eagle supermarket CEO
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