Merchant Payments Coalition Urges US Lawmakers to Consider Card Fees

The Merchant Payments Coalition (MPC) sent a letter on Wednesday (Jan. 19) to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to highlight Amazon’s decision and reversal regarding the acceptance of Visa credit and debit cards in the U.K.

In November, Amazon said that it was dropping acceptance of Visa due to high transaction fees, effective Jan. 19. However, the eCommerce giant reversed its decision on Monday (Jan. 17).

Visa’s pushback over fees follows a number of complaints by merchants over the high cost of using card payment networks.

See also: Amazon UK Changes Course, Decides to Accept Visa After All

The MPC is comprised of trade associations representing U.S. retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gasoline stations, online merchants and other businesses that, together, pay billions in card swipe fees.

The transaction fees result in higher prices for consumers. The coalition serves as an advocate and is working for a more competitive and transparent card system.

“The cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers,” Amazon said in a statement released to the news media, the letter indicates. “These costs should be going down over time with technological advancements, but instead they continue to stay high or even rise.”

Read more: Visa-Amazon UK Spat Puts Interchange Rates Back in the Spotlight

Although Amazon changed its decision about Visa, the situation highlights the frustration even the biggest retailers have over swipe fees, the MPC said, noting small retailers have it much worse.

Because cards are so integrated into today’s digital-first lifestyle, merchants can’t drop the major players due to lack of competition.

“Lack of competition lets card networks like Visa and Mastercard and the banks that issue their cards get away with price-fixing and other practices that would not be tolerated in any other industry,” the MPC said in its letter.

The situation is bad in the U.K. but is even worse in the U.S., where merchants face the highest swipe fees in the industrialized world. Visa swipe fees in the U.S. are four times what they are in the U.K.

“We believe U.S. authorities should look closely at what Amazon has done in the U.K. and need to be aware that many retailers here feel the same,” the letter continued. “It’s time to bring about competition that will require the U.S. card industry to play under the same rules as any other business.”