Your local merchants are fed up with unfair swipe fees.

Every time a card is swiped, a Wall Street bank profits off small businesses and consumers. That’s because two companies control 80% of the current market, setting the fees charged by all banks that issue their cards along with the terms for usage — forcing merchants to foot the bill. That means small businesses have no choice but to pay non-negotiable fees or incorporate the high swipe fees into the prices consumers pay.

Lack of competition means credit card swipe fees continue to rise year after year, soaring 20% last year alone. Small retailers are hardest hit by high credit card swipe fees, especially during this period of inflation. Small businesses pay the highest swipe fee rates and have the least leverage to fight back against credit card networks and Wall Street banks.

Excessive swipe fees stifle growth and expansion for small businesses and are the highest operating cost after labor. These high fees also make it difficult for small business owners to invest in their companies by hiring more staff, buying more inventory, competing on price and even keeping their doors open in today’s uncertain economic climate.

A fair solution

The bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act would infuse competition into the marketplace by simply requiring there be at least two competing processing networks enabled on each credit card. These reforms have the potential to save American businesses and consumers an estimated $11 billion per year.