“It turns out that in seven of the eight countries with the highest debit card usage per capita there is no interchange fee, casting empirical doubt on the proposition that interchange fees are necessary to stimulate usage through promotional activity and cross subsidy from the merchant side of the market to the consumer side.”
(Dennis W. Carlton, “Externalities In Payment Card Networks: Theory And Evidence,” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City 2010)
Numerous studies have been conducted by federal agencies, the GAO, academics and the Federal Reserve, each one each identified market problems caused by swipe fees. For a summary of the many reports, studies and expert commentary related to swipe fee reform visit http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com/testimony-reports