WASHINGTON– Nearly two-thirds of likely voters support credit card swipe fee reform, according to a new survey released by the Merchants Payments Coalition, which is advocating for passage of the Credit Card Competition Act in Congress.
The findings run counter to those found in surveys conducted by credit unions, which oppose the legislation. The MPC said Senate sponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act are seeking to have the bill attached to the “minibus” spending plan that could be voted on by the Senate this week.
“These numbers show that bringing competition to out-of-control swipe fees is a priority for consumers, not just merchants,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a statement. “Consumers are increasingly aware that swipe fees drive up the prices of everything they buy and are going nowhere but up. They want Congress to stand up against global credit card networks and Wall Street banks and put American families first. Regardless of political affiliation or age, consumers want lawmakers to pass the Credit Card Competition Act.”
According to the MPC, the survey of nearly 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted by Pierpont Consulting & Analytics between Sept. 5-11 and found that 65% of those interviewed support swipe fee reform.
‘Decisive Support’ Cited
The MPC said “decisive support” was seen across party lines, including 69% of Democrats, 66% of Independents and 60% of Republicans, along with 67% of those 35 and older and 56% of those who are younger.
“Only 27% of likely voters oppose reform,” the organization said.
All respondents to the survey had to have at least one credit card and be either “very likely” or “absolutely certain” to vote in the 2024 election for president and other offices, the MPC said.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
MPC released the survey results during a virtual news conference held by the American Economic Liberties Project, Americans for Financial Reform, the Institute for Self-Reliance, Small Business Rising and other consumer and small business groups.
The MPC noted its survey follows research released by the National Retail Federation, which is member of the MPC Executive Committee, that found 81% of consumers support federal legislation that would allow for greater competition to lower credit card swipe fees for small businesses.
‘Trust in Small Biz’
“NRF also found 73% of consumers trust small businesses over large banks when advocating for policies that impact consumers,” the organization said.
The Credit Card Competition Act was reintroduced in June by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Peter Welch (D-VT), and J.D. Vance (R-OH), and in the House by Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Thomas Tiffany (R-WI) and Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ).
Are You Being Gouged for Bank-Like Subscription Fees for Old News? Here’s a CU-Like Way to Fix That
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news”” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?