May 12, 2011
Washington, DC - While the country’s biggest banks turn to swipe fee scare tactics, industry experts and merchants across the country continue to confirm that the small bank swipe fee exemption will function as intended.
“I have always and will always honor all cards,” said Pat Lewis, who owns 13 Oasis Stop ‘n Go Convenience Stores in Idaho. “That’s Visa and MasterCard’s policy, and that’s my policy as a business owner who does my best to provide great customer service in my store. Nothing is going to change when this rule goes into effect.”
Numerous financial industry experts have confirmed that the exemption will work, and Chairman Bernanke was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying that the central bank would exercise “all the power we can” to ensure that the exemption functioned as intended. Sixty percent of American Banker readers said in a poll that small banks would benefit from swipe fee reforms—even after lobbyists encouraged their members to pad the vote negatively.
In a letter to Congress last week, the Merchants Payments Coalition demonstrated exactly how the exemption will work. Merchants will continue to accept all cards, regardless of the swipe fee rates that they carry. Because of honor-all-cards rules in debit and credit card contracts, merchants are in fact prohibited from treating one debit card differently than another debit card. Just as retailers now accept rewards cards in the same manner as they accept standard no-frills cards, despite the huge difference in swipe fees, they will continue to accept all varieties of debit cards after the rule has been implemented in July.
“We’re in the business of customer service,” said Rob Bartels, CEO of Martin’s Super Markets in South Bend, Indiana. “That means passing savings along to our customers regardless of the bank they use. My customers are as eager to see swipe fee reforms implemented as I am.”
###
The Merchants Payments Coalition is a group of convenience stores, retailers, and small business owners whose membership associations represent approximately 2.7 million stores and 50 million employees. For more information, go to http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com or visit us on Twitter.