In 2007 alone, American consumers paid over $42 billion in credit card interchange fees. Even consumers who don't use plastic pay more through higher prices.
That's why we need your help to pass HR 5546/S 3086 the bi-partisan Credit Card Fair Fee Act, and put an end to credit card company price fixing. It's time to change interchange and make it fair.
- Contact Congress: Write a letter to your elected representatives in Washington telling them that this is an issue you care about.
- Send a letter to the editor of your local paper: Write the editor of your local paper about the unfair and costly credit card fees facing you as a consumer.
- Tell A Friend: If you were unaware of these hidden credit card fees, most likely your friends haven’t heard of them either. Please share this information by sending an email encouraging your friends to visit unfaircreditcardfees.com
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The interchange fee is a percentage of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard collect from retailers every time a credit or debit card is used to pay for a purchase. Nearly $2 of every $100 American consumers spend using credit cards goes directly to the credit card industry through the interchange fee, the hidden fee that is charged every time you use a credit or debit card. Even consumers who don't use plastic pay more through higher prices.
Interchange is the biggest credit card fee you've never heard of. In 2007 alone, American consumers paid more than $42 billion in credit card interchange fees - more than twice what we paid in late fees. In fact, credit card interchange fees cost us more than credit card annual fees, cash advance fees, over-the-limit fees, and late fees combined. And since 2001 alone, credit card interchange fees have risen 133%!
And Americans consumers pay among the highest credit card interchange fees in the industrialized world, three times what British consumers pay. In Britain and some other industrialized countries, credit card interchange fees are viewed as unjustified and harmful to competition. Some countries, including the EU, are taking steps to deal with credit card interchange fees even though the fees consumers pay overseas are much lower than what Americans pay. The United States lags far behind the British, the European Community, and our other major trading partners in terms of grappling with this threat to open markets and free competition.