Credit Card Fair Fee Act Passes House Judiciary Committee
The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) issued the following statement in response to the House Judiciary Committee passing the Credit Card Fair Fee Act, H.R. 5546, today. The Committee voted 19 to 16 in favor of the Act.
“We applaud the House Judiciary Committee’s leadership with the passage of the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008, H.R. 5546. Today’s victory is a landmark decision that reaches far across party lines in reining in Visa and MasterCard’s stranglehold over merchants and consumers alike. The Committee issued a loud, bipartisan wake-up call to credit card and financial services industry with the reporting of H.R. 5546, which they boasted would never see the light of day. The Committee not only reported the bill with 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans voting to report it, but defeated every poison pill amendment by similar bipartisan margins."
H.R. 5546 would end the anticompetitive practices of hidden credit card interchange fees, which cost Americans $42 billion last year.
We are encouraged by this momentum and effort by lawmakers to create transparency in the credit card marketplace and bring disclosure to everyone. We look forward to the Senate joining the House soon and to a strong floor vote on behalf of America's merchants and consumers.”
The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), UnfairCreditCardFees.com, is a group of retailers, supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, fuel stations, on-line merchants and other businesses who are fighting against unfair credit card fees and fighting for a more competitive and transparent card system that works better for consumers and merchants alike. The coalition’s member associations collectively represent about 2.7 million stores with approximately 50 million employees. For further information, please visit http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com
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