7-Eleven Delivers Congress 1.6 million signatures; Stop Unfair and Non-negotiable Credit Card Fees (FoxNews)

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WayTooHigh American consumers and merchants pay more for credit card interchange fees than consumers and retailers in other industrialized economies6 minutes ago from HootSuite Merchants don’t mind paying fair share of credit card interchange fees, that amount is ~13% of the fee we (consumers) are FORCED to payabout 6 hours ago from HootSuite Chase and Wells Fargo cut debit card overdraft fees overdrawn by JUST $5 or less. Not very pro-consumerabout 8 hours ago from HootSuite O.C. 7-Eleven franchisee takes credit-card fee battle to D.C. http://ow.ly/r9VUabout 18 hours ago from HootSuite Priceless: The Case That Brought Down The Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel Book Review & Giveaway http://ow.ly/r8bT4:31 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Shares of Visa (NYSE: $V) and Mastercard (NYSE: $MA) are both down over 4% today on concerns regarding potential government legislation4:29 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Our most clicked on Tweet today: U.S. Sen. Dodd Pushes for Interchange Fee Reform (NACSOnline) http://ow.ly/r8424:12 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite After watching Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” urge everyone to follow RT @WayTooHigh; http://www.WayTooHigh.com4:06 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite The credit card companies never encountered social network marketing and Twitter to challenge their immoral fees4:04 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Visa and MasterCard was 100% controlled by the same 1000’s of it’s member banks.4:03 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Where are the regulations and rules against MasterCard and Visa. Sherman Antitrust Act was designed just for this issue4:02 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite For complete info on the battle against MasterCard and Visa see http://www.WayTooHigh.com4:01 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Banks and MasterCard and Visa are feeling the heat, but they are masters in manipulating Congress4:01 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite MUST SEE: Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” banks created virtual casino. http://ow.ly/r7YJ4:00 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Credit card companies reached tipping point for excessive fees. Happy 5-year legal battle is being noticed.3:59 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Scam to swindle merchants out of ~2% sales payable for antiquated credit card processing fees out of control 6X other nation’s fees.3:58 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Banks will be hit hardest from loss of interchange fees, but, remember member banks (1000s) co-own ~50% of $V $MA #Visa #MasterCard3:50 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Credit Card shares FALL; Gov’t talks on merchant interchange fees. MasterCard fell 4.8% ( $204.70), Visa dropped 3.9% ($70.66)3:47 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite No surprise. In the $V and $MA IPO SEC filings, but warned “insolvency” possible if our merchant interchange suit is successful3:45 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Bank of America urges federal judge to dismiss the U.S. SEC’s complaint accusing it of misleading shareholders about bonuses [why?]3:38 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite Credit Card Fees Have Retailers Ready for War – http://bit.ly/WBVub2:24 PM Sep 25th from web “Credit Card Fees Have Retailers Ready for War” [Agree, I’ve been at war, suing MasterCard, Visa and banks for 5 yrs]. http://ow.ly/r7fB2:22 PM Sep 25th from HootSuite RT @CSNewsOnline: Consumers Respond to 7-Eleven’s Call to Action on Credit Card Fees http://tinyurl.com/ydezbqd10:50 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite The Electronic Payments Coalition issued the following statement: (funded by banks, who trusts banks anymore?!) http://ow.ly/qcBf10:50 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite RT @miaminewsnow: Major Banks Changing Overdraft Fee Rules: When Congress began to debate and credit card reform .. http://bit.ly/IxXQS10:16 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite RT @WBTVPrimeTime: Cover Story: Bank customers striking back: Upset over credit card ..overdraft fees http://tinyurl.com/ybpglpt8:02 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite Frank backs Rep. Ron Paul’s Fed audit bill – MarketWatch – http://bit.ly/iMH6h6:56 AM Sep 25th from web RT @glcspdn: CSP Daily News: 7-Eleven taking 1.6 million “Stop Unfair Credit Card Fees” consumer signatures to D.C. http://bit.ly/10HTxQ6:39 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite As Washington remedies unfair credit card interchange fees, the hundreds of billions in prior years’ charges need to be returned too6:38 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite “Dodd Will Push To Control Bank Fees For Merchants” (via Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant): http://ow.ly/r1Q86:17 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite U.S. Sen. Dodd Pushes for Interchange Fee Reform (NACSOnline) http://ow.ly/r1MT6:12 AM Sep 25th from HootSuite Will those banks changing the debit card overdraft fees make it retroactive and REFUND the billions in unfair overcharges?4:54 PM Sep 24th from HootSuite Senator Chris Dodd is right: “the [credit card] system has gotten completely out of wack.”11:26 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Credit card purchase fees gouge US merchants-group http://ow.ly/qczx10:40 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Phony consumer-friendly banking overdraft rules. will get fees from other services [interchange raises?], or end when heat is off?10:26 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Credit card co’s charging GIANT hidden tax on consumers. Overdraft a debit card = PAY BIG BUCKS: http://ow.ly/kJHb10:15 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Report: Nine Scientifically Proven Ways to Get Retweeted on Twitter [via Fast Company] http://ow.ly/qS879:35 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite U.S. credit card interchange fees ~2X rates in UK, New Zealand. ~4X rates in Australia. ~6X cross border MasterCard rates in the EU9:20 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite The bank’s “overdraft protection” policy is to PROTECT their balance sheets with unbridled greed at expense of consumers9:19 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite credit card issuers curbing usurious overdraft policies raises larger question. Where’s the refund for decades of abuse?9:17 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Exactly as we said. The banks will use the shift in debit card overdraft fees as marketing tool; See FULL PAGE NYT’s (9/24 p A5) Chase ad.9:13 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Way to go JPMorgan Chase – 1 day after heat from usurious ~3500% annualized overdraft fee rates, they advertise a change9:12 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Cavalcade of credit card company tricks continues. Wells Fargo cuts overdraft debit card fees due to criticism9:08 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite How to INSTANTLY save $125,000,000,000 ($125 billion) – take control of credit card interchange “swipe” fees7:15 AM Sep 24th from HootSuite Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. each received $45 billion in U.S. Gov’t TARP funds and have yet to repay it10:22 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite NICE REACTION TO OUR EARLIER TWEET: BofA refunds 1 person’s debit card overdraft fees AFTER NBCNews how about for EVERYONE http://ow.ly/qNLD7:50 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite RT @cynergydata: Credit card companies responding to overdraft criticism http://bit.ly/jUvLd6:40 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Bank of America drops arbitration requirement (via AP) – http://ow.ly/k7KX5:40 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Credit card PIRACY! video – http://ow.ly/pLZo3:40 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite RT @jordancrowder: @BofA_help Now BOfA charging me overdraft protection on my CC for a service that didnt protect me in the first place!3:32 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite WATCH OUT. curtailing debit card overdraft fees is nothing more than a marketing gimmick, look out for higher fees elsewhere3:22 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Nice to see that people are catching onto how the credit card issuers play their game, lower one fee, RAISE OTHERS3:21 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Candice Choi at AP wrote: “Where will banks make up lost overdraft fees?” [Answer: INTERCHANGE FEES] – http://ow.ly/qLIM2:34 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite The Mirror Image: Health Insurance and Credit Card Companies (video) http://ow.ly/qLCH2:23 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Think the $38,000,000,000 in bank overdraft fees last year was high? Merchange interchange change credit card fees ~DOUBLE THAT!2:15 PM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Ron Lieber wrote in the NYT’s that JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have overhauled their debit card overdraft fees. http://ow.ly/qHmG11:06 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Rulings against Visa and MasterCard in New Zealand are foreshadow of how deeply both credit card associations may fall in U.S.11:00 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel by Lloyd Constantine http://ow.ly/peWk10:55 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite @ronlieber – Thanks for your NYT’s article on overdraft fees. I added commentary here: http://ow.ly/qHka. Mitch Goldstone 949-474-765410:09 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Banks Revise Overdraft Debit Card Fees, Why Not Interchange Fees Too? http://ow.ly/qHka8:54 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Bank of America refunds all debit card overdraft fees AFTER NBC News segment for one person, how about for EVERYONE? http://ow.ly/pnK77:55 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite When consumers say retailers should pay the cost of accepting credit and debit cards, don’t they know THEY ultimately ARE!7:40 AM Sep 23rd from HootSuite Credit card companies once looked for reasons to keep account balances high are reshaping images as proponents of responsible money mgmt7:05 PM Sep 22nd from HootSuite Charge-offs+delinquencies are rising as unemployed credit-card holders are falling behind. Interchange revenues declining http://ow.ly/qAHQ4:41 PM Sep 22nd from HootSuite RT @TIMEMostPopular: Credit-Card Fees: Retailers Fighting Back: Restaurants retailers in the U.S. pay a steep fee .. http://bit.ly/t2Jzo10:25 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite The press release FLUFF announcing the $$$ “Chase Sapphire” credit card FAILS to mention HIGHER interchange fee costs – http://ow.ly/kH0G10:20 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite MORE UNFAIR CREDIT CARD FEES: Banks charging $35 for a cup of coffee (via NYT’s editorial 8/20) http://ow.ly/kJC510:05 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite Join Mitch Goldstone (ScanMyPhotos.com) and other photo imaging industry execs in Cologne, Germany (Oct 21-22) http://ow.ly/q6Hi8:20 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite Q: Why should retailers be taken on a ride when affinity reward credit cards R used? A: Consumers ultimately pay = NO FREE REWARDS7:35 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite FEES charged by airlines to process credit card payments are excessive, disproportionate to the cost of the transactions http://ow.ly/quFJ7:34 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite Credit card surcharges disproportionate to true costs, airlines hitting passengers with hefty credit card booking fees http://ow.ly/qsDF4:49 AM Sep 22nd from HootSuite “battle is brewing over the processing fees that banks charge merchants each time a customer uses a credit or debit card” http://ow.ly/pLYP10:40 AM Sep 21st from HootSuite hidden cost of credit cards should be studied by Gov Accountability Office re effects of interchange fees on consumers7:38 AM Sep 21st from HootSuite How to INSTANTLY save $125,000,000,000 ($125 billion) – take control of credit card interchange “swipe” fees7:15 AM Sep 21st from HootSuite What Is “Interchange” [video: Electronic Payments Coalition] http://ow.ly/qcFw10:53 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite You just gotta see this bank-funded site. Can wait for a jury to hear the real facts: http://electronicpaymentsco…10:42 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Merchants don’t mind paying fair share of credit card interchange fees, that amount is ~13% of the fee we (consumers) are FORCED to pay10:39 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite The Electronic Payments Coalition issued the following statement: (funded by banks, who trusts banks anymore?!) http://ow.ly/qcB910:36 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Think of how cool it would have been if Erin Brocovich had Twitter; used it as we are against nation’s lgst antitrust case in U.S. history10:33 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Fact: Visa and MasterCard STILL charge interchange fees, but they call that portion “Discount Fees” Where’s the Discount???10:31 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Visa and MasterCard say banks charge the interchange fees, but WHO OWNED 100% of Visa and MasterCard pre IPOs? BANKS!10:30 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Credit card purchase fees gouge US merchants-group http://ow.ly/qczp10:28 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite Sen Chris Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to propose merger of 4 bank agencies into one super-regulator.6:35 AM Sep 20th from HootSuite The issue with credit card interchange “swipe” fees is a ~$48 bln annual price-fixing overcharge. My Ecommerce biz FORCED to accept CCs5:35 PM Sep 19th from HootSuite Emotional radio brodcast just after WWII from Germany – The Jewish Service Heard Round the World; YouTube: http://ow.ly/pZLf9:20 AM Sep 19th from HootSuite When consumers say retailers should pay the cost of accepting credit and debit cards, don’t they know THEY ultimately ARE!7:28 AM Sep 19th from HootSuite RT @BoycottBanks: Retail Credit Card Fees Much Higher in the USA….: Americans are being forced to pay significant.. http://bit.ly/1BJK2j7:24 AM Sep 19th from HootSuite U.S. retailers pay credit-card fees up to six times greater than those paid by retailers in other countries, (MPC)7:21 AM Sep 19th from HootSuite Electronic Payments Coalition (funded by MasterCard, Visa and credit card issuers) attacking its customers! http://ow.ly/pc3H4:30 PM Sep 18th from HootSuite Other than illegal price-fixing, technology should have significantly led to MUCH lower merchant interchange credit card swipe fees1:05 PM Sep 18th from HootSuite RT @SanJoseCP: San Jose: Congress considering three bills that would regulate credit card fees http://bit.ly/3t6VFu12:25 PM Sep 18th from HootSuite The U.S. pays approximately 60% of swipe fees globally – about double the U.S. percentage share of global GDP11:20 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Banks raked in an estimated $48 billion in swipe fees in 2008 – an average of $427 per American household in just one year.11:05 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Attorney Lloyd Constantine of Constantine Cannon has book coming out: “Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel10:55 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Hidden swipe fees cost Americans more than all credit card annual fees, cash advance fees, over-the-limit fees, and late fees combined10:20 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Interchange fees started out in the 1960s as a way for banks to cover the cost of processing credit card transactions10:02 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Merchants take a swipe at card fees (via Marketplace Money) http://ow.ly/kXrE $V $MA #MasterCard #Visa #banking8:45 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite U.S. credit card interchange fees ~2X rates in UK, New Zealand. ~4X rates in Australia. ~6X cross border MasterCard rates in the EU8:20 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite How to INSTANTLY save $125,000,000,000 ($125 billion) – take control of credit card interchange “swipe” fees7:02 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite “battle is brewing over the processing fees that banks charge merchants each time a customer uses a credit or debit card” http://ow.ly/pLYB6:40 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Credit Card interchange fees around the world, why is the U.S. among the highest? (Merchants Payments Coalition) http://ow.ly/pWJa6:05 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite NACS Study: US Pays More for Interchange Fees – http://ow.ly/pX7O5:47 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite RT @HaTaMaLbusines: Credit-Card Fees: Retailers Are Fighting Back (source: Time) http://hatamal.com/1d35a05:13 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite Credit card interchange fees have more than TRIPLED in the amount collected in the past 8 years!5:05 AM Sep 18th from HootSuite The same reckless, predatory lending practices that led to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown still prevail with credit cards (MPC)5:45 PM Sep 17th from HootSuite reading from @time http://bit.ly/FEQCn5:31 PM Sep 17th from web MasterCard and Visa are WRONG. Banks, not merchants are using interchange fees to boost profits and enhance revenues5:25 PM Sep 17th from HootSuite Credit card PIRACY! video – http://ow.ly/pLZk3:40 PM Sep 17th from HootSuite @DebitPrepaid – We get retail customers insisiting debit cards be processed as credit cards to get benefits1:49 PM Sep 17th from web in reply to DebitPrepaid Visa and MasterCard JUST aren’t getting the message. Other businesses are lowering costs, but them. Just got the bi annual increase letter1:40 PM Sep 17th from HootSuite Bank of America “Keep The Change” Round-Up credit card program; another scheme to get more interchange fees? http://ow.ly/pS8p1:28 PM Sep 17th from HootSuite Merchants Payments Coalition 2 release study today: European countries, Canada & New Zealand handle interchange fees http://ow.ly/pM0o10:45 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite About 90% of all business in U.S. from sm biz, not giant chain stores. Ending merchant credit card fees benefit us little guys too.10:45 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite All About the Visa and MasterCard Promotional Gift Card Scheme (repost) http://ow.ly/kdYg10:00 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite More consumers using debit cards (50.4%) over all noncash sales (AP), but ScanMyPhotos.com and many merchants process it at higher CC rates9:55 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite MasterCard Europe has promoted UK head of marketing Rita Broe to the position of group head of European marketing9:40 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite @nancytrejos profiled our battle against credit card interchange fees in the WashPost – http://ow.ly/pLYk8:35 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite “The Stimulus Didn’t Work” (WSJ John F. Cogan Opinion); Really? Why then is stock market at intra level HIGHS?!8:25 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Merchants also launched antitrust suit against the banks and credit cards in connection with interchange fees. [that’s us] http://ow.ly/pOir7:50 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Janet Morrissey at TIME Mag writes that retailers ready to fight credit cards fees. We’re 5 yrs in already! http://ow.ly/pOgV7:48 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Visa Inc survey claims consumers want retailers to pay interchange fees, but THEY are ultimately the ones paying it! http://ow.ly/pO5r7:34 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Better question from Visa Inc funded survey is: “how do you feel about illegal, anticompetitive price-fixing?” http://ow.ly/pO3S7:31 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Not to laugh too loud, but you gotta read this Visa inc. commissioned survey – http://ow.ly/pO287:30 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite SHAME on Visa, MasterCard, credit card companies for misguided effort to shift message from BANK GREED to chain store profiteering.7:00 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Merchants seek public’s support in fight with credit card issuers http://ow.ly/pMSt6:00 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Merchants Payments Coalition 2 release study today: European countries, Canada & New Zealand handle interchange fees http://ow.ly/pLZY3:33 AM Sep 17th from HootSuite Retailers Battle Credit Card Fees – http://bit.ly/CwXD23:22 AM Sep 17th from web Improved processing technology and the weak economy should be driving card-acceptance prices down6:54 PM Sep 16th from HootSuite RT @SFBackTalk MasterCard Vs. Visa: Dueling Compliance Philosophies. David Taylor thinks he’s figured ’em out. http://tinyurl.com/pvb2zc9:35 AM Sep 16th from HootSuite Gold Rises to 18-Month High on Inflation Concern, Weaker Dollar9:25 AM Sep 16th from HootSuite ScanMyPhotos.com lowered rates over the years from $5 to under 5-cents, yet technology isn’t playing role in record credit card fees9:10 AM Sep 16th from HootSuite More credit card merchant interchange fee INCREASES in the works for early fall. NO JUSTIFICATION other than greed, exploiting new laws.7:50 AM Sep 16th from HootSuite Every time you charge your Big Gulp at 7-Eleven, a credit card company swallows part of the profit. http://ow.ly/ifsX6:05 PM Sep 15th from HootSuite Buy a restaurant gift card and ZERO added fees; buy a Visa or MasterCard gift card and $$$ extra.11:40 AM Sep 15th from HootSuite Video: Credit Card Bill of Rights (WUPW) http://ow.ly/kPdC11:00 AM Sep 15th from HootSuite the cost of accepting PIN-debit cards rose 305% between 1996 and 2007 http://ow.ly/k8mq10:05 AM Sep 15th from HootSuite Other than illegal pirce-fixing, technology should have sigtnificantly led to MUCH lower merchant interchange credit card swipe fees8:57 AM Sep 15th from HootSuite American Bankers Assn say merchants get enormous benefit from credit cards; WRONG, HUGE $48+ billion hidden COST8:40 AM Sep 15th from HootSuite Bank of America refunds all debit card overdraft fees AFTER NBC News segment for one person, how about for EVERYONE? http://ow.ly/pnJV7:44 PM Sep 14th from HootSuite looking forward to reading, Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel by Lloyd Constantine http://ow.ly/peWO11:55 AM Sep 14th from HootSuite Officially called “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” ought to be called: “Illegal Price-Fixing Swindle Act by Visa, MasterCard and the Banks”10:30 AM Sep 14th from HootSuite Network Rivalry Sparks 10-Year Quadrupling of PIN-Debit Pricing (via Digital Tracations) http://ow.ly/k8mf10:05 AM Sep 14th from HootSuite in 2001, Sonta Sotomeyer ruled on prior class-action in Visa Check, 280 F.3d 124 by merchants challenging Visa and MasterCard fees7:11 AM Sep 14th from HootSuite Attorney Lloyd Constantine of Constantine Cannon has book coming out: “Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel4:43 AM Sep 14th from HootSuite Electronic Payments Coalition (funded by MasterCard, Visa and credit card issuers) attacking its customers! http://ow.ly/pc3E4:30 PM Sep 13th from HootSuite credit card assn ad SHOULD show receipt listing ADDED credit card interchange fee as extra line item: http://ow.ly/pc3Z4:20 PM Sep 13th from HootSuite When I sued Visa, MasterCard + its member banks for illegal price-fixing of credit card fees back in ’05, never imaginged power of Twitter9:55 AM Sep 13th from HootSuite RT @timharold: Learning about credit card processing fees this morning, bottom line i’m paying way too much, any ideas?9:33 AM Sep 13th from HootSuite Just returned from three-weeks in Europe. Off again in October to address photo conf in Germany, than New Zealand and Australia6:30 AM Sep 13th from web Seems a last thread of profitability for banks are their monopoly over merchant credit card interchange fees10:40 AM Sep 12th from HootSuite Other than illegal anticompetitive price-fixing, how can Visa, MasterCard, 1000s of member banks justify soaring interchange fees?2:45 PM Sep 11th from HootSuite Competition – what Visa, MasterCard, banks know little about, is why 0 interchange fees will benefit consumers = lower costs10:35 AM Sep 11th from HootSuite Congress must support “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” especially in a recession. Takes ~$60 bln out of banks unfair rev into consumers pockets10:15 AM Sep 11th from HootSuite Improved processing technology and the weak economy should be driving card-acceptance prices down http://ow.ly/k8lT (Digital Transactions)10:00 AM Sep 11th from HootSuite NBC Nightly News (Aug 16) segment: credit card co’s raising fees, lowering benefits, yet interchange fees record high http://ow.ly/kn4c9:05 AM Sep 11th from HootSuite Consumers Petition for Lower Credit Card Swipe (interchange swipe fees TRIPLED since 2002) http://ow.ly/kXqu8:40 AM Sep 11th from HootSuite Think $38,000,000,000 in bank overdraft fees last year was high? Merchange interchange change credit card fees ~DOUBLE THAT!5:15 PM Sep 10th from HootSuite The Commerce Commission and Mastercard have signed an agreement settling the commission’s claim that the credit card company fixed fees.12:55 PM Sep 10th from HootSuite Circle K: Interchange fees are their 2nd largest cost after payroll. http://ow.ly/kFNy11:15 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) [funding by banks, Visa, MasterCard] misinformation – http://twit.ac/EK2s.html10:35 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite Officially called “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” ought to be called: “Illegal Price-Fixing Swindle Act by Visa, MasterCard and the Banks”10:30 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite only justification [for soaring interchange fees} is when you have an anti-competitive business model and you can illegally fix prices10:00 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite Same banks reporting HUGE profits from “overdraft fees” often same ones that rec’d BILLION in U.S. bailout $’s8:30 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite credit card issuers ADVERTISE to FORCE consumers to use plastic vs cash, then disassociate for taking responsibly for the surged in charges8:00 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite Credit Card Follies: Abolish interchange fees altogether (via Kevin Drum, Mother Jones) http://ow.ly/hGsO #180007:25 AM Sep 10th from HootSuite $2 trillion (~1/2 of all credit card lines of credit might be rescinded next year (CNBC, NEW News) http://ow.ly/kn8O4:20 PM Sep 9th from HootSuite Bank of America drops arbitration requirement (via AP) – http://ow.ly/k7KW1:40 PM Sep 9th from HootSuite JUST ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD: “Credit card issuers boost rates ahead of tougher rules” (LA Times) http://ow.ly/kHHR11:50 AM Sep 9th from HootSuite Consumers have to pay additional fees or earn more credit card rewards for perks http://ow.ly/kdeX = WE ARE OVERPAYING INTERCHANGE FEES11:40 AM Sep 9th from HootSuite The new JPMorgan Chase “Chase Sapphire” credit card harms merchants/consumers WE pay the rewards, higher interchange fees10:15 AM Sep 9th from HootSuite More Scheming by Visa and MasterCard. Anatomy of How an Electronic Gift Card “Works:” http://ow.ly/kdWq9:50 AM Sep 9th from HootSuite It’s not a privilege to accept Visa / MasterCard credit / debit cards. It”s a requirement for online co’s; they wield 80% market power.1:00 PM Sep 8th from HootSuite Question isn’t extraordinary merchant value from credit cards, it’s about antitrust violations – illegal, anticompetitive price-fixing11:15 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite credit card company merchant interchange swipe fees ARE wipings independent businesses off the map in neighborhoods across the U.S.10:30 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Credit card co’s NOW charging hidden tax on consumers. Overdraft a debit card = PAY BIG BUCKS: http://ow.ly/kJGB10:10 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Congress must support “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” especially in a recession. Takes ~$60 bln out of banks unfair rev into consumers pockets9:15 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Mastercard agrees to let New Zealand banks issuing credit cards set interchange rates, merchants able to apply surcharges to payments8:55 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite get rid of interchange fees AND credit card reward gimmicks, after all consumers end up paying for those “free” rewards7:20 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Small-Business Owners Lobby to Cut Credit Card Fees (repost via NY Times) #MasterCard #Visa $V $MC #banking #18000 http://ow.ly/hvbi7:15 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Twitter Finally Profitable: Think of all the billable hours from legal, advocacy firms charging Visa, MasterCard and the banks to read this!7:00 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite SHAME on Visa, MasterCard, credit card companies for misguided effort to shift message from BANK GREED to chain store profiteering.7:00 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite Why Won’t Visa Give U.S. Competition & Transparency Promised to New Zealand on Credit Card Fees? (via @NCASOnline) http://ow.ly/jVvB6:50 AM Sep 8th from HootSuite ScanMyPhotos.com FORCED to accept Visa and MasterCard for our ecommerce business, as are most online companies, they wield 80% market power7:35 AM Sep 7th from HootSuite Lawsuit against MasterCard. Visa over interchange fees NOT ABOUT “extraordinary value to merchants” but ILLEGAL PRICE FIXING8:05 AM Sep 6th from HootSuite 4-party credit card payment systems is broken; interchange fees no longer cost-based, floods banks with $ at expense of consumers10:55 AM Sep 4th from HootSuite The press release FLUFF announcing the $$$ “Chase Sapphire” credit card FAILS to mention HIGHER interchange fee costs – http://ow.ly/kH0A10:20 AM Sep 4th from HootSuite MORE UNFAIR CREDIT CARD FEES: Banks charging $35 for a cup of coffee (via NYT’s editorial 8/20) http://ow.ly/kJBS10:05 AM Sep 4th from HootSuite As Citigroup and Bank of America Post Huge Profits, Why are Bank Fees Going up? (via Anthony Mason CBSNews) http://ow.ly/hzsx7:20 PM Sep 3rd from HootSuite banks, credit card co’s protect key source of profits: credit card swipe fees (HuffPost) http://ow.ly/gVwv5:45 PM Sep 3rd from HootSuite Q: Why should retailers be taking on a ride when affinity reward credit cards R used? A: Consumers ultimately pay = NO FREE REWARDS2:20 PM Sep 3rd from HootSuite Competition – what Visa, MasterCard, banks know little about, is why 0 interchange fees will benefit consumers = lower costs11:35 AM Sep 3rd from HootSuite Stop Unfair Credit Card Fees Tell Your Elected Representatives To Act On Interchange Fees http://ow.ly/iEOn10:45 AM Sep 3rd from HootSuite Interchange fees antiquated as manual credit card imprinters and carbon copy receipts, no longer COST BASED, now GREED BASED10:25 AM Sep 3rd from HootSuite About 90% of ALL overdraft bank fees HIT 10% of poorest Americans: http://ow.ly/kJLl10:20 AM Sep 3rd from HootSuite GREAT TO HEAR: Circle K petition expects to deliver three-quarters of a million signatures protesting card fees.11:10 AM Sep 2nd from HootSuite media spending for credit card ads PLUNGED 50% means LOWER interchange change fees as marketing was part of the cost, so why HIGHER fees?11:05 AM Sep 2nd from HootSuite credit card companies cut ad spending 50% (Brandweek) = less risk and lower mkting costs, yet record interchange fees? http://ow.ly/k8UI8:05 AM Sep 2nd from HootSuite Rulings against Visa and MasterCard in New Zealand are foreshadow of how deeply both credit card associations may fall in U.S.10:00 AM Sep 1st from HootSuite Credit card companies are cancelling cards and reducing benefits even though merchant interchange are paying the costs, incl rewards.4:15 PM Aug 31st from HootSuite Q: Why should retailers be taking on a ride when affinity reward credit cards R used? A: Consumers ultimately pay = NO FREE REWARDS2:20 PM Aug 31st from HootSuite

Recent Tweets From WayTooHigh

Follow WayTooHigh.com on Twitter

WayTooHigh: Visa and MasterCard operate like price-fixing cartels and violate federal antitrust laws.

 

WayTooHigh: Q: Why should retailers be taking on a ride when affinity reward credit cards R used? A: Consumers ultimately pay = NO FREE REWARDS

 

WayTooHigh: Visa, MasterCard make bulk of their money from charging fees to financial institutions that issue the cards http://ow.ly/io8j

 

WayTooHigh: Bank of America Says Three Directors Quit as Exodus Totals 10 http://ow.ly/iM7h

 

WayTooHigh: All About the Visa and MasterCard Promotional Gift Card Scheme (repost) http://ow.ly/kdY6

 

WayTooHigh: Q: How can banks (MasterCard / Visa) site “competitive pressures” regarding need for soaring credit card rates? They own the Monopoly board!

 

WayTooHigh: You know it’s a good day for consumers and retailers when Visa publicly expresses extreme disappointment: http://ow.ly/kdXF

 

WayTooHigh: Q: Why hasn’t MasterCard, Visa, Chase, CitiGroup, BofA, etc… not been shut down for collusion and credit card price-gouging. A: Dunno

 

WayTooHigh: More Scheming by Visa and MasterCard. Anatomy of How an Electronic Gift Card “Works:” http://ow.ly/kdWc (new post)

 

WayTooHigh: MAJOR SCAM: Visa, MasterCard gift cards issued rather than checks. They keep micro-payments remaining, because you can’t exceed your balance

 

WayTooHigh: @nancytrejos– As credit card companies lower reward benefits merchants interchange fees should be too, WE (consumers) pay those rewards

 

WayTooHigh: Looking forward to watching NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday – my hero, Rachel Maddow takes on someone I can’t stand, Dick Armey

 

• 
  WayTooHigh: Rob Reeg. pres Global Technology & Operations for MasterCard Worldwide, frightens consumers http://ow.ly/izsH with misinformation

• 
  WayTooHigh: credit card companies cut ad spending 50% (Brandweek) = less risk and lower mkting costs, yet record interchange fees? http://ow.ly/k8UC

• 
  WayTooHigh: Why should retailers be taken on a ride when affinity reward credit cards are used? Consumers ultimately pay = NO FREE REWARDS
• 
  WayTooHigh: media spending for credit card ads PLUNGED 50% means LOWER interchange change fees as marketing was part of the cost, so why HIGHER fees?
• 
  WayTooHigh: As recession-weary consumers are swearing off their credit cards, credit card brands are swearing off advertising http://ow.ly/k8Ua

   

• 
  WayTooHigh: Network Rivalry Sparks 10-Year Quadrupling of PIN-Debit Pricing (via Digital Transactions) http://ow.ly/k8mc
• 
  WayTooHigh: only justification [for soaring interchange fees} is when you have an anti-competitive business model and you can illegally fix prices
   
• 
  WayTooHigh: Improved processing technology and the weak economy should be driving card-acceptance prices down http://ow.ly/k8lP (Digital Transactions)
   
• 
  WayTooHigh: RT @Denrael: @WayTooHigh there is competition but challenge is getting wallet space [Not really, MasterCard and Visa wield 80% Market Power]
   

• 
  WayTooHigh: Bank of America drops arbitration requirement (via AP) – http://ow.ly/k7KK (new post)
• 
  WayTooHigh: When I sued Visa, MasterCard + its member backs for illegal price-fixing of credit card fees back in ’05, never imagined power of Twitter

• 
  WayTooHigh: Bank of America Says Three Directors Quit as Exodus Totals 10 http://ow.ly/iM7e
• 
  WayTooHigh: Stop Unfair Credit Card Fees Tell Your Elected Representatives To Act On Interchange Fees http://ow.ly/iEOe
• 
  WayTooHigh: FIGHT CREDIT CARD FEES: Write Congress – Share this link with fellow merchants http://ow.ly/iENK
• 
  WayTooHigh: Circle K Circulates Petition Chain placing petition protesting credit-card fees in its convenience stores http://ow.ly/iEN1
• 
  WayTooHigh: More consumers using debit cards (50.4%) over all noncash sales (AP), but ScanMyPhotos.com and many merchants process it at higher CC rates
• 
  WayTooHigh: New to ScanMyPhotos.com: For updates on our antitrust lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard, major banks See: http://ow.ly/k4Wj
• 
  WayTooHigh: Had media interview w/ biz pub. Explained credit card companies get away with high rates because they = monopoly, fix-prices, NO competition
• 
  WayTooHigh: RT @7ElevenCedarPk: NYTimes article on 7-Eleven and the petition for unfair credit card fees. http://bit.ly/5fgCx
• 
  WayTooHigh: The fees – known as credit-card interchange fees, or swipe fees – are unfair to us and deceptive to the donors. http://ow.ly/jwd8
• 
  WayTooHigh: Congress must support “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” especially in a recession. Takes ~$60 bln out of banks unfair rev into consumers pockets
• 
  WayTooHigh: Maria Aspan (American Banker) says Citigroup will charge annual free for some credit cards. even as Interchange fees at record high
• 
  WayTooHigh: credit card company merchant interchange swipe fees ARE wiping independent businesses off the map in neighborhoods across the U.S.

   

• 
  WayTooHigh: TARP Recipients Fighting To Keep Charging Exorbitant Credit Card Fees (via Huffington Post) http://ow.ly/gVvH
• 
  WayTooHigh: Obama administration planning broad reworking of fees financial firms pay for their federal regulation, (WashPost) http://ow.ly/k0aJ
• 
  WayTooHigh: Visa and MasterCard issuers collectively set credit card interchange fees in secret. These fees can’t be negotiated

• 
  WayTooHigh: A central bank study in March recommended changes to Brazil’s credit-card market to make it more efficient http://ow.ly/jjm1
• 
  WayTooHigh: U.S. retailers and consumers refuse to be treated worse than New Zealand, Canada, Australia and other countries. http://ow.ly/jVvR
• 
  WayTooHigh: 4-party credit card payment systems is broken; interchange fees no longer cost-based, floods banks with $ at expense of consumers
• 
  WayTooHigh: Competition – what Visa, MasterCard, banks know little about, is why 0 interchange fees will benefit consumers = lower costs
• 
  WayTooHigh: Did you know that when you make a non-profit charitable donation, Visa, MasterCard and credit card issuers MAKE $$$ off the top.
• 
  WayTooHigh: Tulips, Silver, Housing Market and Oil Speculators Have Nothing on MasterCard and Visa {July, 08, WTH) http://ow.ly/g1aY #18000
• 
  WayTooHigh: Commerce Commission And Visa Reach Agreement To Settle Credit Card Interchange Fee Proceedings http://ow.ly/jLmK
• 
  WayTooHigh: Why Won’t Visa Give U.S. Competition & Transparency Promised to New Zealand on Credit Card Fees? (via @NCASOnline) http://ow.ly/jVvd
• 
  WayTooHigh: Retailers are asking the public to help them eliminate a credit card interchange fee that often gets passed on to users http://ow.ly/jVuD
• 
  WayTooHigh: How Credit Card Companies Are Changing the Fine Print (via Mary Palon, WSJ) http://ow.ly/jVsw
• 
  WayTooHigh: Banks are like health care industry, LOADS of misinformation on credit card interchange fees. Credibility at zero.
• 
  WayTooHigh: Many non-profit charities HURT by MasterCard and Visa credit card fees. Forced to pay upwards of 5% interchange fee for few manual charges

   

• 
  WayTooHigh: Credit Score Shell Game: As High Scores Vanish, Borrowers’ Luck Runs Out (via Nancy Trejos Washington Post) http://ow.ly/ftrP #18000
• 
  WayTooHigh: Businesses incurs a fee anytime a customer swipes a card. http://ow.ly/j0eY

  

• WayTooHigh: Credit Card Issuers’ trick: Ads showing “fun” ways to design photos on credit card = distraction, should be URGING you to READ terms #18000
• 
  WayTooHigh: Three bills have been introduced in the 111th Congress that address the issue of interchange fees http://ow.ly/jNRA

   

• 
  WayTooHigh: It’s Visa and MasterCard that should thank consumers every time they use a debit / credit card at stores: http://ow.ly/iftW
• 
  WayTooHigh: From MasterCard Inc. Q2 Earnings Call, NO explanation about price-fixing and intl interchange fees that are 1/3 that in U.S.
• 
  WayTooHigh: NZ Commerce Commission settled out of court w Visa in deal that will change fees charged on all retail transactions in NZ http://ow.ly/jLA1
• 
  WayTooHigh: Commerce Commission And Visa Reach Agreement To Settle Credit Card Interchange Fee Proceedings http://ow.ly/jLmA
• 
  WayTooHigh: Our economy lost trillions POST Bush’s $300 p/ person stimulus program. But, Republicans silent on anything but attacking current plan.
• 
  WayTooHigh: SHAME on Visa, MasterCard, credit card companies for misguided effort to shift message from BANK GREED to chain store profiteering.
• 
  WayTooHigh: Congress must support “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” especially in a recession. Takes ~$60 bln out of banks unfair rev into consumers pockets
• 
  WayTooHigh: Visa, MasterCard look abroad for growth (via Reuters) [Even thought U.S. interchange fees ~3x more than abroad?] http://ow.ly/jIw9
   
• 
  WayTooHigh: Stop Unfair Credit Card Fees Tell Your Elected Representatives To Act On Interchange Fees http://ow.ly/iEOa
   
• 
  WayTooHigh: When anticompetitive and illegal interchange fee price fixing ends, family-owned restaurants, dry cleaners, etc. will be SAVED

Losing Money Every Time a Credit Card is Used

Read this credit card Interchange updated by Jan Norman, Orange County Register (July 30, 2009)

Excerpt:

The store owners lose money because a growing number of customers use credit cards for small purchases, he says.

The issue has been around for years. 30 Minute Photos Etc. in Irvine was a named plaintiff in a 2005 class action lawsuit against the interchange fees.

“Interchange fees are just a way that credit card companies squeeze merchants to enhance their revenue stream,” according to Mitch Goldstone, partner in 30 Minute Photos and ScanMyPhotos.com.

$25 Oil vs. $60 Billion Visa & MasterCard Interchange Fees?

The greedy banks and auto industry execs failed their shareholders and Americans. Their mismanagement is being rewarded with billions, or is it trillions in free money?

Everything has turned upside down.

Accountability is irrelevant and Washington lobbyists are all powerful.   Look at today’s Merill Lynch & Co assessment that oil might soon be trading at just $25 a barrel, according to a Bloomberg report.   If gas can plunge from nearly $150 to under $50 in just a few weeks, due to the economic seizure, why are the Visa and MasterCard merchant interchange fees – fueled by its member banks – continuing to rise? 

Something is very broken and wrong.

Tulips, Silver, Housing Market and Oil Speculators Have Nothing on MasterCard and Visa

UnfairCreditCardFees.com

Fight Unfair Credit Card Fees

The credit card interchange fee is the biggest credit card fee you’ve never heard of.  Nearly $2 of every $100 American consumers spend using credit cards go directly to the credit card industry through the interchange fee.

In 2007 alone, America consumers paid over $42 billion in credit card interchange fees.  Even consumers who don’t use plastic pay more through higher prices.

And the credit card interchange fee is set in secret – consumers don’t know they’re paying it through higher retail prices.  Interchange fees have risen a staggering 133% since 2001.

A rare bi-partisan consensus has emerged:  HR 5546/S 3086, The Credit Card Fair Fee Act which stops the price-fixing by the credit card industry and uses a transparent market-based process.

New On UnfairCreditCardFees.com

• Australian authorities find interchange fee reforms improve competition and benefit consumers
• Congressman Welch Supports Credit Card Reform; Encourages Congress to Act on Credit Card Interchange Fees that Hurt Both Merchants and Consumers

• Merchants and Consumers Welcome Judiciary Committee Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Crack Down on the Hidden and Excessive Credit Card Fees
  Credit Card Fair Fee Act Would Mean Free Market Transparency, End Card Price Fixing
• Three in Four Americans Support Credit Card Fair Fee Act
  National Poll Finds Voters Want To Rein In Hidden Credit Card Fees That Inflate Prices; Legislation Would End Credit Card Secret Price Fixing (Poll Results)
• Merchants Say that Visa Fee Cut is Less Than Meets the Eye
  Credit Card Fees on Gasoline Might Actually Be Higher, Not Lower, Under New Visa Program
• Credit Card Fair Fee Act Picks Up Bi-Partisan Support
  Legislation will address credit card industry practices that hurt small business and their customers
• Merchants Welcome Senate Legislation to Fix the Problem of Hidden Credit Card Interchange Fees
  Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the “Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008,” legislation that addresses the biggest credit card fee of all – the interchange fee, which cost Americans $42 billion last year.

[source: UnfairCreditCardFees.com]

Oil Price Collapses 32% in October, Interchange Fees Unchanged

There are not may international cartels remaining.  The global economic crisis has even deflated OPEC’s market power, as crude prices plunged by the biggest level since futures trading began in the early 1980s.  However, Visa and MasterCard and its member banks are continuing to maintain their unfair merchant interchange fees even as oil prices plunge in what is expected to be an extended downward trend for more than a year.

New Visa and MasterCard Interchange Rates on Oct 3rd

“Credit card fees cutting into profits” (via Herald-Citizen)

Excerpt: Credit card transaction fees affect all retailers but have hit gas stations particularly hard because of low margins and the high costs of running the business.

For example, if you purchase 25 gallons of gasoline at a cost of $4 a gallon with a credit card — and if a retailer’s profit margin is 10 cents a gallon (Mid-Tenn currently has a 7-cent margin per gallon, Ramsaur said) — a total of $2.50 is made from the $100 spent. But with credit card interchange fees ranging anywhere from 2-3.9 percent — the retailer often ends up owing money and selling gas at a loss.  Read more.

[Source: Herald-Citizen]

Fact Sheet: Do You Know How Interchange Fees Harm Service Stations and all Merchants?

Visa and MasterCard credit card fees inflate the price of gas by charging consumers and merchants hidden credit card fees that total 8-10 cents a gallon that inflate already skyrocketing gasoline prices. Credit card fees now tally up to $2.00 or more per fill up for many drivers.

 

Service stations owners and consumers are paying record credit card fees

as Visa, MasterCard, and their member banks reap the windfall from the 100% increase in the price of gasoline since 2007.About two dollars of every $100 the consumer spends in stores or buying gasoline goes directly to the credit card industry in the form of the interchange fee, the biggest credit card fee you’’ve never heard of. Americans pay three times as much in interchange fees as Europeans.

Interchange started as a fee to pay for credit card processing more than 50 years ago when everything was done by hand. Now computers do all the work, but the fees have skyrocketed in recent years.

American businesses and consumers paid $42 billion in interchange fees in 2007 alone.

The price of gas is the BIGGEST issue in the country, bigger than the ““economy”” according to one survey (Yahoo). Two-thirds consider gas prices an extremely important issue, edging the economy and outpacing health care and Iraq as the country’s most distressing problem. In November, when gas cost about $1 a gallon less than today, just under half rated it extremely 

important.

 

With $4-plus gasoline, the credit card industry typically takes in 8-10 cents per gallon in interchange fees, far more than the service station owner if he or she is making any money at all. (Many service station owners are currently losing money on every gallon they sell.)

 

Except for OPEC, nobody makes more money from skyrocketing gasoline prices than Visa & MC.

  Interchange fees are set in secret by the credit card industry. The Credit Card Fair Fee Act (HR 5546,S 3086) is a solution that would create a competitive market outcome and bring transparency to the broken credit card market by allowing merchants a seat at the negotiating table.

Visa’s announcement on June 26th that it will restructure some interchange fees on gas purchases is their first public acknowledgment that the 100% increase in gasoline prices combined with the 100% windfall they have enjoyed from higher credit card revenues in the last year is a major problem for American consumers. However, Visa’s latest actions will make things worse for most people by raising –– not lowering –– credit card interchange fees on the average gasoline transaction. It will mean higher credit card fees for the average gas station. And Visa’s actions do not address the issue of skyrocketing food costs as well as gasoline.

Interchange fees hit consumers coming and going. For example, when truckers fill their tanks to get the goods we buy to market, the interchange fees charged can be as much as $20-25 for a single fill-up. Trucking costs, in turn, increase the costs of all the goods those trucks deliver. So, not only do the credit card companies increase costs on a gallon of milk when a consumer buys it with a credit card at the grocery store, credit card interchange also pumps up the price of that gallon of milk through the trucker’s fuel costs. This ripple effect hurts consumers and businesses in ways they do not realize — and never see coming.

It’’s time to……
-Wake up Congress to stop hidden credit card

   fees on gas

-Put the brake on hidden credit card fees on gas

-Fight the fees that fuel rising gasoline prices

-Take action that stops gas stations from closing

   because of unfair credit card fees

 

“Old-time protest of high fuel prices might be a gas” (via LA Times)

Excerpt from July 1 Los Angeles Times

Some people just sit around and complain about a problem (Note to self: Look in the mirror), and other people actually try to make things happen….  Small-business owner Mitch Goldstone is, however, and he’s organizing a shindig Thursday at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. that he hopes will get people steamed over gas prices. He thinks it’ll be the protest that gets the country up in arms, but I have my doubts: The occasional talk of “no-drive” days around the country doesn’t seem to go anywhere….  Even the Goldstone “protest” is taking a slight turn. Its main pitch is that credit card companies are taking advantage of the high gas prices through additional fees they’re getting from merchants who handle charge.

Click here to read the entire LA Times’ Dana Parsons column 

*** For complete information on The Great American Rally Against Skyrocketing Credit Card Fees on Gasoline, click here.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Rally to Stop Skyrocketing Credit Card Fees on Gasoline

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                     

Contact: Mitch Goldstone
Ph: 949-474-7654 Email: Goldstone (at) ScanMyPhotos.com
 

Rally to Stop Skyrocketing Credit Card Fees on Gasoline
Ask Congress to support the Credit Card Fair Fee Act

Irvine, CA — June 29, 2008  – In honor of July 4th consumers and gas station owners alike will demand independence from Visa and MasterCard’s hidden credit card fees that add another 8-10 cents a gallon on top of already skyrocketing gasoline prices.

Service stations owners and consumers are paying record credit card fees as Visa, MasterCard, and their member banks reap the windfall from the 100% increase in the price of gasoline since 2007.

About two dollars of every $100 the consumer spends in stores or buying gasoline goes directly to the credit card industry in the form of the interchange fee, the biggest credit card fee you’ve never heard of. Interchange started as a fee to pay for credit card processing; it has skyrocketed in recent years. American businesses and consumers paid $42 billion in total fees just in 2007. 

With $4-plus gasoline, the credit card industry typically makes 8-10 cents per gallon in interchange fees, far more than the service station owner if he or she is making any money at all. (Many owners are currently losing money on every gallon they sell.) Americans shell out as much as or up to $2 per fill up to the credit card industry every time they fill up. Except for OPEC, nobody makes more money from skyrocketing gasoline prices than Visa and MasterCard. The cost of a cashless society is way too high if you let the credit card industry set the price.

Interchange fees are set in secret by the credit card industry. The Credit Card Fair Fee Act is a solution that would create a competitive market outcome and bring transparency to the broken credit card market by allowing merchants a seat at the negotiating table.

WHO:   WayTooHigh.com – The Credit Card Interchange Report

WHAT:  Consumers and merchants rally to stop unfair credit card fees on gasoline

WHEN:  Thursday, July 3, 7.30 to 9.00 AM

WHERE:  Chevron station at Corporate Park Plaza –––– corner of Jamboree and 

Barranca Parkway in Irvine (near John Wayne Airport)
CONTACT:  Mitch Goldstone, editor, WayTooHigh.com – The Credit Card Interchange Report and president & CEO, ScanMyPhotos.com

WayTooHigh.com – The Credit Card Interchange Report
92 Corporate Park Plaza, Suite B, Irvine, CA 92606
949-474-7654, Goldstone (at) ScanMyPhotos.com

 

 

 

“Congress Takes on Gasoline Prices” (via CNNMoney)

• “The hearing was held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws. It was delayed more than an hour due to prolonged votes on the House floor, according to a Judiciary Committee spokesman.”
• “Bill Douglass, chief executive of gas retailer distributor Douglass Distributing Co. also noted that credit card companies collect 9 cents per gallon of gas sold, leaving many retailers with no profit from the gas they sell.”

  Click here to read the CNNMoney May 7th article 

No April Fool’s Day Joke: Visa and MasterCard are Set to “Adjust” Interchange Rates on Tuesday (April 1st)

Visa and MasterCard Interchange Rates Revised on April 1

Visa and MasterCard’s Member Banks’ Weak Assessment of Interchange Litigation

If you thought the thousands of member banks failed miserably in how they extended billions in risky housing loans, that could end up being an understatement on the leadership in their executive suites.

Take a look at the banks plan to partly bail out from their Visa investment by using the expected IPO in an attempt to distance themselves from the merchant interchange litigation.  Should the Visa IPO occur this month as planned, and we still think it might not – or be delayed due to market conditions and other factors – the real fiscal liability is fully understated. 

Visa’s SEC filing explains that they plan to set aside $3.0 billion for its legal liability, but you would think that the real hit to the banks’ would be far greater.

Here is why:

In our opinion, any merchant interchange settlement would include removing or substantially reducing their current $40 billion annual hidden tax on retailers and consumers.  Market analysts and several financial reporters have been explaining that the Visa Inc. IPO investment is solid if the legal liability  is diminished.  However, they all fail to equally assess the impact on the credit card association’s banking cartel to adjust for a diminished source of income from their anti-competitive and price-fixing interchange scheme.   

The Credit Card Nightmare (via Wired)

Click here to read the Wired Magazine explanation about credit cards.

  

 Want to know more about lead plaintiff ScanMyPhotos.com?  Click here and read their daily blog: Tales from the World of Photo Scanning

If Technology and Innovations Enable Free Photo Scanning, Why Not Also Free Access MasterCard and Visa’s Payment Network?

[Free Photo Scanning for Social Networking Sites]

Technology and innovations are generating nationwide buzz for our super-fast photo scanning and Ecommerce digital imaging services.  Now, it’s free.  ScanMyPhotos.com has pioneered super-fast and affordable photo scanning, and today it is free [see link for article]. 

We are scanning up to 1,000 4×6″ photos without charge (pay just for S&H – $19.95) for all members of Flickr, Facebook, MySpace and Blogger because Kodak technology is that efficient [see link to Kodak.com profile].

What does this have to do with out merchant interchange battle? Everything.  Unlike MasterCard and Visa and its thousands of member banks, we are taking advantage of technology to lower costs.  This model makes sense because ScanMyPhotos.com is asking members of these four leading social networking sites – representing the most cutting-edge and innovative group of consumers – to post reviews on their ScanMyPhotos.com experience.

If we can provide free and super-fast photo scanning, why can’t the two leading credit card associations also adjust  their fees to also reflect today’s shared technological efficiencies for super-fast electronic payments?

  

 Want to know more about lead plaintiff ScanMyPhotos.com?  Click here and read their daily blog: Tales from the World of Photo Scanning

UnfairCreditCardFees.com Advertisements

From the UnfairCreditCardFees.com website.  Click below to view recent advertisements

Americans pay 3 times as much in credit card fees as Europeans

Ever wonder who pays for all that credit card junk mail? You do. It comes from your credit card interchange fees

© 2007–2008 Merchants Payments Coalition

“Read This Before You Swipe! Debit Card Dangers” (MSNBC)

– 

“Fees: Banks prefer the credit option when you use your debit card, because they make more money in fees. For a $200 transaction, for example, a bank could make $1.99 if the customer chooses the “credit” option and signs his or her name. This is more than three times the 60 cents they usually make from customers who choose “debit” and enter a PIN number.”

Click here to view article by Sloan Barnett, MSNBC

Update: ScanMyPhotos.com Earns Raves for Battle against Visa and Mastercard

Due to our participation at the International Photo Marketing Association convention in Las Vegas, we are preoccupied with several speeches we are presenting at the DIMA and PMA conventions (www.Pmai.org)

However, it was rewarding to receive absolute encouragement in our battle from other retailers who saluted and applauded our campaign to take on Visa and MasterCard’s anti-competitive pricing structure. Even at a luncheon today, sitting next to a photo industry executive from England, who we met during our speech there last September, they too shared our fight, even though the rates they pay are just half that in the U.S.

PMA this year is all about technology and innovations to lower prices, which shines more light on the question of how the banks and Visa and MasterCard could continue charging such high fees even tough technology should have led to lower rates?

For updates during the weekend, see ScanMyPhotos.com blog – Tales from the World of Photo Scanning.

Interchange Fees: Casualties of Technology?

Study the changes to your industry against the banks and credit card associations.

For us, our two separate industries also transitioned but had vastly divergent outcomes as technology forced changes. We made changes, the other one (in our opinion) is protected by the banking cartel.

FilmAs a longtime and well-known leader in the photo imaging industry, 30 Minute Photos Etc. was forced to adapt. Today, very little business is derived from traditional film processing; it is mostly digital. Our customer-base is nationwide today. However, we would have no customers if we were still imposing a film developing chargefor each online, in-store kiosk and other digital orders. If you have us make Kodak-quality photographic prints from your digital camera, you would be concerned if there was an added fee for film processing. Right?

Electronic Charge Card Payment Transactions

Think of the 40-billion dollar annual merchant interchange fee boondoggle. It was organized decades ago to cover the cost to process and clear carbon-copy credit card receipts. Today it is more of an untouchable, ghostly bank annuity – even as technology and efficiencies have altered its underpinnings.

Just like with film and many other products and services, the business has changed. However, Visa® and MasterCard’s® member banks continue to maintain artificially high interchange fees because we allege it is set by illegal price-fixing and not subject to regular competitive forces. The conspiracy by the banks and their market power forgets that merchants remember the old-fashioned credit card imprinters and what interchange fees were designed to cover. The reward games and other schemes developed by Visa and MasterCard come at an added cost to merchants, cardholders and all consumers who eventually fund the banks interchange annuity.

Note: There are no interchange fees for writing and clearing checks. There are even no interchange fees in Canada for PIN debit card transactions. The merchant interchange fees in third-world countries are even lower than rates charged in the States.

[Source: WayTooHigh.com]

Wednesday’s Planned EU Ruling Against MasterCard

According to an updated Dec 17 Reuters article [click here], “MasterCard has said it should keep the principle of setting its own fees and that the EU executive has no power to cap them.”

Remember, it was MasterCard which last year, proposed a $50.00 cap on interchange fees at service stations for charge card electronic payments.  Since MasterCard announced that action more than a year ago, we are uncertain whether they ever followed through.  And, this raises a bigger question: if they agree to cap gas charges at service stations, then, why not for all transactions?  

Interchange fees are obsolete and on Wednesday, we anticipate that the EU will provide what will generate a substantial holiday gift to all retailers and consumers.

 [commentary: WayTooHigh.com, via Reuters article]

Visa and MasterCard Gift Cards, Part II

Look at the back of a Visa Gift Card package to read their “important things to know.”

Visa’s solution for handling low balances on gift cards is to have you ask sales clerks to split the charge, which as a merchant we know is nearly impossible when the register is crowded with customers and adding any special transactions leads to nightmarish roadblocks.

In Visa’s own words: “If you try to purchase an item of greater value than your card balance, your card will be declined.  To purchase an item that costs more than the balance on your card, use a second payment method for the difference.”

If you thought the card associations’ and member banks reaped windfall profits from their merchant interchange fees, this is pure magic for them.  Declining cards leads to uncomfortable sales experiences and we think many consumers will just throw away the card with the small balances, and thus earning even more money for the banks. 

The film The Graduate had it right when telling Benjamin that the future was in “Plastic.”  How visionary they were.

[commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

“EU’s Kroes Warns Banks on Payments” (via AP)

EU Antitrust Chief Warns That New Bank Payment System Should Not Cost Customers More.  The EU’s antitrust chief Neelie Kroes warned banks on Monday that a new payment system should not be allowed to cut down choice or increase costs for customers.

Regulators have criticized the high level of these fees, saying card networks like Visa, MasterCard and American Express have failed to explain why they need to charge so much for handling payments.

Click here to read article.

[via AP]

“Merchants Applaud Senate Scrutiny of Credit Card Fees” (MPC)

According to their Dec 4 press release, the Merchants Payments Coalition is encouraged by a congressional hearing calling into question unfair credit card practices.  Today’s hearing, held by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is among several held this year that are scrutinizing the unfair practices imposed on consumers and merchants by credit card companies.

“This hearing is another example of how serious the issue of credit card abusive practices is for everyone,” said MPC Chairman Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel at the National Retail Federation. “The credit card industry has profited from outrageous fees, and congressional attention is beginning to shed some light on a broken system.”

One of the most outrageous fees most people have never heard of is the “interchange” fee, a percentage of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard along with their member banks collect from retailers every time a credit or debit card is used to pay for a purchase. The fee varies with type of merchant, transaction and card, but averages close to 2 percent per transaction.

Unlike other credit card fees, credit card companies don’t show interchange on monthly statements while their rules make it virtually impossible to show it on receipts and make cash discounts very difficult to offer. Instead, stores are effectively required to include the fee in the price of merchandise, meaning higher prices for all customers, even those who pay by cash or check. The hidden fee cost consumers and merchants $36 billion last year and is expected to top $40 billion this year.

Earlier this year, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the billing, marketing and disclosure practices of the credit card industry. In addition, Duncan testified on behalf of the MPC during a July hearing on credit card interchange held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Task Force.  Duncan argued that Visa and MasterCard practices in setting interchange rates have constituted a violation of federal antitrust laws.  MPC advocates a payment system that is transparent and open to competition.

“Cost of Credit Cards 10 Times Cost of Paying Cash” (Sydney Morning Herald)

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, “BANKS charge customers up to $2 for using teller machines other than their own but the cost to the bank is 74 cents, the Reserve Bank said yesterday in the most comprehensive study yet undertaken into the costs of paying for things.”

It is nice to read that what we have been championing for nearly three years is now mirrored overseas, as other retailers also argue that “interchange fees should be abolished,” according the the SMH.

Click here to view article.

CBS “60 Minutes” Program Takes on Credit Cards

Click here to view the CBS “60 Minutes” Credit Card profile [originally aired Sunday, Nov 25]. 

The real “high tech heist” is perpetrated by Visa, MasterCard and its thousands of member banks who are charging $40 billion dollar each year in hidden fees.  The card associations will challenge our argument by explaining their fees are transparent. But, they are wrong. 

How wrong? 

Click on the links for Visa and MasterCard below and see if you can figure out what merchants are charged by Visa USA and MasterCard from their website’s fee schedules, but make sure you have lots of coffee and time…

The National Retail Federation was also interviewed for this “60 Minutes” segment. 

Why Credit Card’s Can Be Scrooges During The Holidays

Actually, the charge card associations and their member banks can be scrooges year-round.

During the holiday season it can be particular oppressive to non-profit charitable organizations which accept electronic payment donations. They can pay upwards of 5% in interchange fees when benevolent donors present their cards.

Don’t use credit cards to support non-profits. And, even when you do, many are then in violation of their payment agreement, as often times they require a minimum donation. Regular retail businesses would be quickly disenfranchised from their MasterCard and Visa association if they required a minimum. But, we can’t imagine the two networks sending a cancellation notice to, for instance, The American Red Cross – even though they post on their website that there is a $5.00 minimum donation.

Most charities accept donations by credit card in order to facilitate giving by donors. However, keep in mind that charities usually have to pay the resulting merchant interchange fees, which can be as high as 5%. Of course, using a credit card to give is better than not giving at all, but better still is a gift by cash or check.

Oil Jumps to Nearly $100, Generates More Interchange Fee Profiteering

With crude oil prices topping $99.29 a barrel, Visa and MasterCard’s member banks are reaping extra rich rewards this holiday season. Few motorists understand that a percent of most credit card transactions paid at the pumps goes to the acquiring and issuing member banks of the card associations’ electronic payment network.  As the global economy faces this economic energy crisis, the banks are reaping windfall profits. Why exactly are they able to charge a percent of each transaction, when the cost to clear an electronic payment is just about 13% of the total interchange fee cost?

But, there are more questions to also be asking this Thanksgiving holiday.

At supermarkets and other stores, you will find a variety of retailer gift cards.  Guess which ones include an “activation fee?”  That is right Visa, but not any of the restaurants, book stores or other merchants.  Why are the card associations able to charge an additional activation fee anyway?  The privilege of using their network, rather than dealing directly with merchants, like Starbucks generates even more fees for them.  

[Commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

Returns After “Black Friday” Cause Losses For Retailers

The 40-billion dollar merchant interchange hidden tax is a mystery to many, and few understand how these fees work. 

A little known fact is that when shoppers return an item, the retailers can be out the interchange fee.  Depending upon the payment processing contract, reimbursments for the electronic charge payment do not always occur, even though a full refund to consumers are applied during returns.  Think of the billions of dollars in merchandise returns after “Black Friday,” traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, following Thanksgiving.  Visa and MasterCard, along with its thousands of member banks’ motto should be “thanks for giving, but we might not refund your interchange charges for returned goods and services.”

[Source: WayTooHigh.com]

European Interchange Reform Delayed (via Reuters)

According to Reuters, the expected EU proposals for interchange fees has been delayed. It was to be released any day, but will now occur within the next few weeks, or perhaps not until next year. We hope this was not caused by Visa’s planned IPO. Could you imagine if the offering took place prior to this important ruling – investors would be denied the opportunity to fully understand its impact.  From our U.S. prospective, can you imagine the anguish from European merchants and consumers who are forced to pay upwards of 1.0% in merchant fees?  Then again, the rates in the U.S. are 70% higher than that, which raises the reoccurring question of why have the member banks and card associations been able to (as we assert) illegally fix prices and artificially charge such sky-high rates? 

[Commentary: WayTooHigh.com, via Reuters report]