U.S. House Lawmakers Introduce The Credit Card Competition Act Of 2022
On Monday, Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation known as “The Credit Card Competition Act of 2022” which would ensure retailer choice in payment routing by requiring at least two unaffiliated processors on credit cards, the same process that is used for debit card transactions.
Swipe fees remain the second highest operating cost for convenience stores which costs the industry $138 billion annually.
The House bill, H.R. 8874, joins companion legislation already introduced in the Senate, S. 4674, by Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS).
There are nearly a dozen independent networks that are equipped to route transactions, but a handful of dominant networks — chiefly VISA and Mastercard — have prevented them from competing in the credit card space, thus limiting the choice of network.
Allowing retailers greater choice for transaction handling would reduce costs and pass savings onto the consumer.
Introducing routing competition could save businesses and consumers upwards of $11 billion annually according to payments consulting firm CMSPI.
Both bills exempt any bank or credit union with less than $100 billion in assets.
EMA is a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), which represents retailers, supermarkets, restaurants, drug stores, convenience stores, gas stations, online merchants, and other businesses focused on reforming the U.S. payments system to make it more transparent and competitive.
Click Here to urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the legislation.
