NRF Welcomes Bond's Support for Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008

“The addition of Senator Bond to this bill underscores the bipartisan support for fixing this problem,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. “Protecting retailers and their customers from the greed of credit card companies is an issue that crosses party lines. Congress is hearing more and more often from their constituents that it’s time to do something about a fee that gives a windfall profit to the credit card industry at a time when the average American is struggling to pay for groceries and to fill the tank. The public thinks it’s time to do something about these fees, and members of Congress are responding.”

Bond on Tuesday became the lead co-sponsor of S. 3086, which was introduced two weeks ago by Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. The legislation is a companion measure to H.R. 5546, also named the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Representative Christopher Cannon, R-Utah, in March. The Conyers/Cannon bill has a total of 37 other co-sponsors, including 21 Democrats and 16 Republicans.

Both the House and Senate measures would require credit card systems possessing “substantial market power” to negotiate with merchants to reach a voluntary agreement on credit card terms and conditions. If an agreement could not be reached, both sides would be required to submit their final offers to binding arbitration by a panel of antitrust experts appointed by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission.

“The lineup of sponsorship on this legislation – a powerful House committee chairman and a member of the Senate leadership as sponsors, and respected, veteran Republican lawmakers as lead co-sponsors – shows that this is a measure that has substantial weight behind it,” Duncan said. “As Chairman Conyers said before, it doesn’t look good for the credit card companies.”