With Congress finally holding a hearing, its critical Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) know how important this legislation is to small businesses and consumers right here in South Dakota.
In 2022, merchants paid more than $126 billion in credit card swipe fees, more than double the amount paid just a decade ago. These fees are charged every time a customer pays with a credit card, amounting to a percentage of their total transaction cost. South Dakota alone paid nearly $250 million in swipe fees, siphoning vital revenue from our communities to pad the enormous profit margins of Wall Street mega corporations.
POINT: South Dakota senators failed to protect children from pornography
COUNTERPOINT: Age verification bill will not keep your kids safer, will risk privacy
Without congressional action, this nonstop pattern of swipe fee increases will only worsen as Visa and Mastercard continue to consolidate control over the credit card industry, and use their power to keep raising these fees.
Passing the CCCA would allow merchants to choose between at least two different routing networks when processing transactions. Increased competition would encourage Visa and Mastercard to keep their fees reasonable to stay competitive.
I hope our lawmakers will work to get the CCCA passed in 2024. Small businesses and consumers are counting on it.
Jay Foss
Spearfish
Pass the fees on to the consumer. If you want to pay the fee for the convenience, pay the fee. Otherwise pay in cash or check. We routinely do this now.
Aren't the big boys at the top of Visa & Mastercard making big bonuses already? When the President talked on Wednesday he said that the rates were coming down. Were either of these two at the State of the Union? Or were they just sitting like puppets to trump?