Small business pushes credit card reform - Boston Business Journal:

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It’s a figure a group of small busineses owners say credit cardcompanies don’t want but one that consumers need to know. “Thre continuing burden of or swipe fees on small businesa owners has become heavier and heavierto bear. It is the seconx largest expensebehind payroll. It is somethinv we are extremely worried saidJim Smith, president of the Florida Petroleum Marketer and Convenience Store during a Monday news conference.
Credi card companies, on the other say the fees are simply the cost of doing Credit card swipefees – called interchange fees by the big bankes that set these rates – are a percentag of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard and theid member banks collect from retailers every time a credit or debif card is used. These fees average aboug 2 percent inthe U.S., according to the , the associatiobn for convenience and petroleum retailing, which put togetherr Monday’s news conference. In 2008, credit card fees cost U.S. convenienc e stores $8.4 billion, compared with $5.
2 billiomn in store profits, according to NACS Almost all of these credit card fees are attributable to crediy cardswipe fees. Convenience store ownedr Bruce Mitchell said his operation paid out morethan $3 milliomn in credit card fees last year. “I am payin 25 percent more for credif card fees than I pay in he said. Recently, tax offices in four Florida counties – Marion, Walton, Osceola and Brevarde – said they will no longer accept Visa becausee there was no room in theid budgets to absorb the swipefee costs.
The coalition notecd that, while county governments have the abilityy to say no because Floridians must pay their taxes, businesses can’t afford to say no to credit card purchases. The groupx are pushing for legislation that would eitherf require credit card companies to reveal swipe fees or allow merchants to negotiate those thus leveling theplaying field. Federalp lawmakers recently reintroduced the Credit Card FairFee Act, whicjh NACS said would give merchanta “a seat at the negotiating table with banks to determine the fees assessedx for every sale made by credit card, and ultimatelu reduce the costs of everyday goods for But, the , an organization that represents payment card networks, financial services companies and financial service trade associations, said in a new releaser that retailers are trying “to make consumeres pay for one of their business expensezs – the cost of accepting credit and