Unfair Credit Card Fees.com

Legislation and Congressional Testimony

April 2010: Hearing on: H.R. 2695, the "Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009"

Testimony:

• Doug Kantor, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP
• Dave Carpenter, President J.D Carpenter Companies, Inc. Urbandale, IA
• Ed Mierzwinski, Director, Consumer Program U.S. PIRG

 

H.R. 4173 - Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

H.R. 2695 - Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009

S. 1212 - Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009

View the list of co-sponsors of H.R. 2695 and S. 1212 then send a letter to your legislators asking them to support this legislation.

The Credit Card Fair Fee Act (HR 2695/S 1212)

The Credit Card Fair Fee Act (HR 2695/S 1212) uses proven market mechanisms to stop the price-fixing by the credit card industry. The Credit Card Fair Fee Act:

• Provides a seat at the table for merchants and credit card issuers alike
  
• Stops the secrecy, provides for the first time ever an open and transparent process to negotiate credit card interchange fees
  
• Offers the complete negotiation framework necessary to hammer out fair credit and debit card interchange fees based on competitive market dynamics
  
• Uses mechanisms that work in the real world. Congress has long since successfully addressed the problem of a broken market using a similar framework; Congress amended the framework as recently as 2004

Previous Letters of Support for the Credit Card Fair Fee Act:

• American Beverage Licensees
• Food Marketing Institute
• National Association of Chain Drug Stores
• National Association of Truck Stop Operators
• National Grocers Association
• National Restaurant Association
• National Retail Federation
• Retail Industry Leaders Association
• 
  

Read the House of Representatives report on the Credit Card Fair Fee Act from the 110th Congress.

 

The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act (HR 2382)

The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act (HR 2382) prohibits anti-competitive practices by Visa and MasterCard and protects the fundamental rights that ensure an open, competitive market and should not be limited by the credit card companies.  The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act:

• Prevents credit card companies from charging the merchant more when a customer uses a “special” card, like a rewards card, a corporate card, or internationally issued card
• Allows merchants to offer a lower price for customers who pay with lower cost payment types or devices and allows a merchant to ask a customer if he or she is willing to use an alternative payment device
• Requires MasterCard and Visa to disclose all terms, rates, and conditions to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and allows the FTC to review and determine if any practices are anti-competitive
• Requires credit card companies to disclose to consumers in several places the interchange rates they are charging
  

View the list of co-sponsors of the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act.

House Financial Services Committee Grassroots Letter on Swipe Fees

Summary of HR 2382

View HR 2382: The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act

Hearing on H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act
U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force
May 15, 2008

Chairman's Opening Statement

Testimony:

• Thomas L. Robinson, Vice President of Regulations, National Association of Convenience Stores
• Steve Cannon, Chairman, Constantine Cannon LLP; Counsel to the Merchants Payments Coalition
• Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director, U.S. Public Interest Research Group

Hearing on Credit Card Interchange Fees
U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force
July 19, 2007

Testimony:

• John Buhrmaster, President, First National Bank of Scotia, New York
• Mallory Duncan, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, National Retail Federation
  • Oral Testimony
  • Written Testimony
• Edward Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director, U.S. PIRG
• Tim Muris, Of Counsel, O'Melveny & Meyers
  • "What is Interchange" attachment to testimony
• Steve Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc.

Video Clips

Transcript

Hearing on Examining the Billing, Marketing, and Disclosure Practices of the Credit Card Industry, and Their Impact on Consumers
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
February 25, 2007

Testimony:

• Statement, Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman
• Professor Elizabeth Warren Leo Gottleib, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
• Dr. Robert Manning, Director, Center for Consumer Financial Services, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Mr. Michael Donovan, Esq., Donovan and Searles
• Mr. John Finneran, President of Corporate Reputation and Governance, CapitalOne Financial
• Mr. Richard Vague, Chief Executive Officer, Barclaycard US
• Ms. Carter Franke,  Executive Vice President of Marketing, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
• Ms. Tamara Draut, Director, Economic Opportunity Programs, Demos

Hearing on Credit Card Interchange Rates: Antitrust Concerns

U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
July 19, 2006

Testimony:

• Bill Douglass, CEO, Douglass Distributing Company, Sherman, TX
• Kathy Miller, Owner, The Elmore Store, Lake Elmore, VT
• W. Stephen Cannon, President, Constantine Cannon, on behalf of the Merchants Payments Coalition
• Joshua L. Peirez, Group Executive,Global Public Policy and Associate General Counsel, MasterCard Worldwide, Purchase, NY
• Joshua R. Floum, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary ,Visa U.S.A., Washington, DC
• The Honorable Timothy J. Muris , Former Chairman, Federal Trade Commission, Of Counsel
• Statement, National Grocers Association
• Statement, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Hearing Transcript

Hearing on the Law and Economics of Interchange Fees
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection
Committee on Energy and Commerce
February 15, 2006

• Henry Armour, President and CEO, National Association of Convenience Stores
• Edmund Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director, US Public Interest Research Group
• Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council