Consumers Support Credit Card Legislation

Consumers overwhelmingly support legislation to control fees…

The “Credit Card Fair Free Act“, bi-partisan legislation that would empower merchants and retailers to negotiate directly with credit card issuers regarding credit card and interchange fees, has voter approval by a whopping 77%, according to a poll recently released by the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC). With interchange fees costing Americans over $42 billion last year, the hot-button issue crosses party lines with members of both the major political parties saying they strongly support passage of the new act.

According to the survey, public sentiment is at an all time high and most consumers agree something needs to be done about the credit card industry. In a vote of non-confidence, almost 65% of consumers feel that credit card companies don’t share their business values or have their best interests at heart. In addition, consumers indicated that they’re three times as likely to have a negative view about credit card companies when compared to cable companies; and six times as likely  when compared to phone companies.

Interchange fees inflate the cost of everything, regardless if you use plastic, cash or check to pay for purchases and amount to 2% – or $2 for every $100 spent.  Interchange fees have hit food and gasoline especially hard in recent years. In 2008, the average American family will pay upwards of $427 in hidden, non-negotiable credit card interchange fees. The “Credit Card Fair Fee Act” would introduce market transparency and open negotiations into the process.

* About the survey: Penn, Schoen, and Berland LLC conducted telephone interviews with 605 likely voters nationally June 19, 2008 on behalf of UnfairCreditCardFees.com. The margin of error for national voters is +/- 3.98 at the 95% confidence level and larger for subgroups. The full poll results and more info can be found at www.unfaircreditcardfees.com.