Credit Card Issuers, Retailers May Face Off Over Fees
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Credit
Card Issuers, Retailers May Face Off Over Fees
Reuters today reports
on a class action suit by retailers who claim that Visa, MasterCard
and a number of major banks are colluding to set high interchange
fees, the fees that merchants pay on each transaction made by
credit card. While the credit card associations and banks say
that retailers are complaining about fees for a valuable service,
retailers claim that the ubiquity of credit card purchasing
has allowed the industry to increase interchange fees without
fear of losing customers.
While
retailers may opt to discontinue allowing credit card purchases
at their businesses, it is questionable whether they can charge
a higher price or special fees to purchasers who pay by credit
card. For example, last week, Connecticut's
attorney general Richard Blumenthal said it was illegal
for several state utilities to add a surcharge to customers
who paid by credit card, but the state's Department of Public
Utilities OK'd the move because the money from the extra charges
were not going to the utilities themselves.
Published 01/24/06 (Modified 05/07/12)
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