$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

What Aren’t Visa and MasterCard Merchant Interchange Fees Falling?

Seemingly, everything is tumbling due to the global economic gloom.

The average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline in southern California is about $2.35, more than a $2.00 decline in just five months when it peeked at $4.60.  What’s happening?  The trend is to lower prices, yet another cartel – the banks and Visa and MasterCard are hard pressed to send out a notice that they too are reducing their anti competitive fees.

“Rally protests gas prices, credit card fees” (via OC Metro)

Via OC Metro Magazine

Irvine business owner organizes rally to call attention to the fees credit card companies are raking in with rising gas prices.

By Olga BelogolovaPublished: July 03, 2008 04:10 PM

More than 30 people gathered at the corner of Jamboree and Barranca Avenues this morning to protest high gas prices and high credit card fees. The protest, organized by small-business owner Mitch Goldstone, took place during the morning commute.

On the cusp of Independence Day weekend, protesters gathered wearing American flags and patriotic gear.

One of them, Mary Lou Barry of Tustin, dressed in a full American-flag jacket and glistening blue hat, spoke about the gas problem. “People are just accepting it,” she says. “We have to talk about it and maybe get some attention.”

The high gas prices are not only affecting drivers, explained Mitch Goldstone, but independent business owners as well, whom, he says, “are going out of business because of Visa and MasterCard.”

Navdeep Bassi, a 7-Eleven franchise owner, is feeling the weight of these fees. “Credit card fees are killing us,” he says. “We make no profit.”

Also personally affected by the gas prices, Lauren Young came to the protest with her daughter Samaia.

Having no car, Young explains: “It’s hard to get rides because a lot of people don’t want to do it. It makes a lot harder,” Young says, “doctors appointments and everything.”

Overall, organizer Mitch Goldstone was very pleased with the turnout. “Everyone is so passionate about record gas prices,” he explained, “especially right before our holiday weekend.”

Goldstone is the president of ScanMyPhotos.com and 30 Minute Photos, Etc., which are located near the protest location as well as a nearby Chevron station.

For more information about gas prices, credit card fees and Goldstone’s efforts, go to WayTooHigh.com

[source: OC Metro Magazine]

“Gas stations charge extra for credit” (Via Florida Today)

Facing fees from Visa and others that erode already small profits on gas sales, some stations have started charging customers extra for using credit cards.  Station operators say credit card companies charge them fees — often 2 percent to 4 percent of a sale — when customers buy gas with credit cards. Those “interchange” fees either cut into their few-cents-per gallon profit or force them to raise their prices, potentially costing themselves customers.  So they are trying to give consumers an incentive to pay with cash.   A few stations around the nation have even stopped accepting credit cards for gas purchases.  Click here to read more.

[Source: Florida Today].

“Credit card costs are driving up the price of gas” (via OC Register)

Reprinted from The Orange County Register “Gas Pains” blog, July 2, 2008 [posted by John Gittelsohn].

It’s hard to argue that soaring crude oil costs are driving up the price of a gallon of gas.

But Mitch Goldstone, an Irvine businessman, says credit card companies are making visits to the pump even more painful — adding 8 to 10 pennies to the price of each gallon of gas.

“A bunch of people are angry at gas prices, but consumers don’t know that credit card fees exist,” Goldstone said.

Goldstone plans what he calls “The Great American Protest Against MasterCard and Visa Fees on Gasoline.” He expects to be joined by hundreds of demonstrators, including some gas station owners at the protest Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at the Chevron gas station at the corner of Jamboree Road and Barranca Parkway in Irvine.

Visa Inc. announced June 26 that it was taking steps to address these types of complaints by capping debit card transactions at the pump at 95 cents per purchase — effective July 18. The San Francisco-based company also said it will reduce the fees it charges fuel stations for transactions on its credit cards, called the “interchange rate.”

“Even though Visa’s interchange rates on fuel transactions are already among the lowest in our system, the run-up in fuel prices to today’s unprecedented levels requires an exceptional response,” said Bill Sheedy, global head of corporate strategy and business development for Visa Inc.

In response to questions from the Register on Wednesday, Visa asserted that it was not ultimately responsible for the cost of its services impacting prices at the pump:

“It’s important to note that retailers, such as gas stations, pay what is called a Merchant Discount, which is their cost of accepting card payments from their customers.  They pay this amount to their own financial institution, known as a merchant bank or merchant acquirer.  Large oil companies often negotiate their merchant discount rate with their financial institution directly and then impose those rates on their franchised stations.  In many cases, rates given to stations are marked up by the oil companies.  These rates are never set by Visa.” 

It’s no secret that some of the cheapest gas in California is sold by ARCO. One reason: ARCO stations do not accept credit cards — and they often charge customers an extra fee for using a debit card to fill up.What’s less well know is how much credit card companies charge to retailers — not just gas station owners, but any company that uses a credit card for a transaction

“Now, a lot more people are being forced to use credit cards because they don’t carry $100 in cash to fill up,” he said.

Essentially, Goldstone says there’s a compound interest problem here.

Credit card companies make retailers pay an interchange fee each time a customer buys something with their card. The fee is based on the size of the purchase. So as a gallon of gasoline soared an average $1.50 — almost 50 percent — in the past 12 months, the credit card companies have increased their fee collections almost 50 percent, without lifting a finger.

In fact, Goldstone argues, credit card companies are doing less work for each transaction, because the technology has improved so much.

“It used to be that we’d make carbon copies of receipts and mail them to Florida,” he said.

Here’s what Visa said in its June 26 announcement:

As an example, under the new rates, if a motorist uses a Visa Signature credit card to fill a 15-gallon tank at $4 a gallon – or $60 total – the acquiring institution generally would pay $0.94 in interchange fees, a savings of 14 percent over current rates. Using a debit card, that same transaction could be cleared within hours, quickly removing the $60 hold that is often placed on a consumer’s funds for one or two days in the current system. For higher transaction amounts, these interchange adjustments have an even greater impact. For a $120 consumer transaction, the level of interchange for the same Visa Signature transaction would be $1.63, for a 43 percent savings. With the cap on Visa Check Card interchange, an acquirer would see a reduction of 59 percent on fuel transactions.

Goldstone, owner of an Irvine photo shop [30 Minute Photos Etc. and ScanMyPhotos.com], is lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed by thousands of merchants alleging that Visa, MasterCard, several banks and credit card companies are violating anti-trust laws. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Craig Wildfang of Minneapolis, said the soonest the case could come to trial is late 2009.

To see a copy of the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, CLICK HERE.

To see more about how Visa Inc. is offering to help gas consumers, CLICK HERE.

Rally to Stop Skyrocketing MasterCard and Visa Fees on Gasoline

Click here for Media Advisory

NEWS RELEASE

Consumers and Merchants Tell Congress to Support the Credit Card Fair Fee Act

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE) Consumers and merchants alike will rally in Irvine on July 3^rd, Thursday morning at 7:30 – 9:00 am at the Chevron station at Jamboree and Barranca Parkway to call for 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.

Consumers and merchants will also be rallying in favor of the Credit Card Fair Fee Act which would end price-fixing by the credit card industry and help cut interchange fees. This bill would allow retailers to have a seat at the table to negotiate with the credit card industry for the terms and rates of the fees.

“Service station 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,” said Mitch Goldstone, event organizer and editor of WayTooHigh.com – The Credit Card Interchange Report. Goldstone is also president and CEO of 30 Minute Photos Etc. and ScanMyPhotos.com.

With $4-plus gasoline, gas customers typically shell out $2 or more to the credit card industry every time they fill up. Goldstone said, “Except for OPEC, nobody makes more money from skyrocketing gasoline prices on American consumers than Visa and MasterCard member banks – over $10 billion this year alone if gas prices stay above $4.”

“About two dollars of every $100 consumers spend 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 has skyrocketed in recent years. Interchange is a hidden fee; the rates are set in secret by the credit card industry,” said Goldstone.

American businesses and consumers paid $42 billion in total interchange fees just in 2007 on all goods and services, far more than they paid in late fees, over-the-limit fees, annual fees, universal default, double cycle billing, exchange fees, and inactivity fees combined. Consumers not only pay more than they should through unfair fees but also through inflated retail prices, especially on gasoline.

The credit card industry has come under increased scrutiny from the public, consumer groups, the Federal Reserve, and Congress in the past three years for their unfair credit card practices, policies and fees. Interchange fees have been the subject of hearings three times in recent years under both the Republican and Democratic Congresses. Large number of Democrats and Republicans favor the Credit Card Fair Fee Act; it has bi-partisan support in both chambers of Congress.

 

 

RALLY ’ROUND THE PUMP (Via Irvine World News)

From The Irvine World News, July 1: 

Irvine business owner Mitch Goldstone is mustering the home guard not only against Big Oil; he’s got Visa and MasterCard in his sights, too, over the cost of fuel. Goldstone has put out a call to all motorists who are “steaming mad” about prices at the pumps to join his All American Rally. The rally is scheduled for Thursday, the day before the Fourth, from 8 to 10 a.m. next to the Chevron station at the corner of Barranca Parkway and Jamboree Road.
    “Visa, MasterCard and thousands of its member banks are making windfall profits every time you fill up and pay with a charge card,” says Goldstone. Goldstone says he and his partner, Carl Berman, are the lead plaintiffs in a multibillion-dollar litigation against the two credit card associations and member banks over “anticompetitive price-fixing practices.”
    “Except for OPEC, has anyone enjoyed a greater windfall from $4-plus gasoline than the credit card industry?” asks Goldstone. To learn more about Thursday’s rally, call Goldstone at his business, ScanMyPhotos.com, 949-474-7654.
– Don Dennis

Click here for more.

“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.

Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a ‘Hidden Tax’ on Consumers (via ConsumerAffairs.com)

Rising oil prices a gusher for card companies

 

By Martin H. Bosworth
(reposted in its entirety from ConsumerAffairs.Com)

June 29, 2008

Consumers are feeling pain at the pump from gas prices topping $4 a gallon but it’s not just gas they’re paying for. They’re dishing out “invisible” extra fees for using a credit or debit card when they gas up.

Interchange fees, the payments credit card companies and banks charge retailers for processing transactions made with plastic, constitute “a $50 billion fee on consumers,” said retailer Mitch Goldstone, owner of the 30 Minute Photos [Etc. retail and ScanMyPhotos.com Ecommerce business.]

“It’s a hidden tax that enables the credit card companies to directly exploit the energy crisis,” Goldstone said.

The interchange fees are set by Visa and MasterCard, the two largest issuers of credit cards, and supported by partner banks. Though the fee percentages themselves are fixed, the actual fee rises as the price of goods or services rises, meaning the fee for a credit card transaction can wipe out any profits the retailer may make for the transaction itself.

The fee structure hits convenience stores that sell gas particularly hard, due to the low margins and high costs of running the business.

“In 2007, credit card fees cost convenience stores $7.6 billion, more than double the convenience store industry’s profits of $3.4 billion,” said the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). “It has been much worse in 2008 as credit card fees have topped 10 cents per gallon, while the markup on a gallon of gas has averaged only 11 cents for the year so far.”

“After factoring in all operating expenses, retailers lose money on every gallon of gas they sell when a consumer uses a credit card,” NACS said. The retail association began a campaign of providing “pumptopper” advertisements to stores and merchants detailing the fees and how much they cost consumers.

Retailers have traditionally been forced to raise prices on all their goods in order to cope with the increased costs borne by interchange fees, and many gas station owners have recently been rebelling by only accepting cash for gas transactions and banning credit cards.

Goldstone, a lead plaintiff in the ongoing lawsuits brought against the credit card companies over the interchange fees, is planning a rally against the fees in his home city of Irvine, California for July 3. “I want to link this to Independence Day,” Goldstone said, adding that he has received support from a broad coalition, including members of the Irvine police department.

“Many of them have said ‘Good for you,'” Goldstone said, noting that many public employees live far outside the city of Irvine itself and pay enormous gas costs just to commute to and from work.

Shell Game

Although both Visa and MasterCard have enjoyed record profits since making initial public offerings for their companies, increasing public pressure over the interchange fees has pushed them to make changes in order to placate criticism, and possibly forestall the possibility of an unfavorable decision in the lawsuits.

Visa announced on June 26 that it would cap interchange fees at 95 cents for transactions made with debit cards at the pump. The fee structure change would take place on July 18, and would precede a full-scale revamp of credit and debit transactions in October.

Opponents of the interchange fees, such as Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), applauded the measure but said more needed to be done.

“The setting of non-negotiable rates by companies with overwhelming market power not only represents a failure of the market, it pinches the pocketbook of every American,” Durbin said. “Congress needs to pass meaningful and comprehensive reform of interchange fees.”

Durbin sponsored the Senate’s version of legislation introduced earlier this year in the House of Representatives that would enable merchants to negotiate interchange fees with credit card companies and banks, referring to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle the matter if an agreement could not be reached.

Others were less impressed with Visa’s move. “Unfortunately, we may not know the impact for months because Visa has said this will only affect debit card transactions on gasoline in mid-July and won’t affect credit card transactions until October,” Goldstone said, “long after the end of the summer driving season, and the opportunity for Congressional action.”

“When the tsunami hit Indonesia in 2005, Visa immediately stopped charging interchange fees on donations made to the Red Cross,” Goldstone told ConsumerAffairs.com. “If they have the power to rework their payment system so quickly, I wonder why they haven’t done it before now.”

[source: ConsumerAffairs.com]

Gas Prices Are a Mess; Visa and MasterCard Are Not Helping

Because Visa and MasterCard, along with their thousands of member banks are playing a key role in our nation’s economic energy crisis, we will demonstrate in advance of the July 4th  Independence Day holiday exactly why Visa and MasterCard are no friends to American motorists, and people around the world.  Their credit card fees are a nightmarishly wild scheme and forcing service stations to close.  These anti-American, windfall profits are unpublicized and poisoning the economy.  Interchange fees are unpatriotic.  During the July 4th Independence Day holiday we are gearing up to explain why.  

For background, click here and visit this site for more updates.

Great American Protest: Rally Against Visa and MasterCard’s Profiteering From Record Gas Prices Planned at Start of July 4th Holiday

Are you overwhelmed by the record gas prices? Did you know that Visa, MasterCard and thousands of its member banks are making windfall profits every time you fill up and pay with a charge card. As gas prices tripled, so too have many of their fees.  These soaring interchange fees are also leading to service station entrepreneurs closing down; they are loosing their businesses due partly to these fees which are among their largest expenses.

Why haven’t there been any major protests against profiteering from record gas prices?

Answer: because it hasn’t been organized, until now.

Take a stand and please join us in Orange County for The All American Rally against Visa and MasterCard to call attention to their hidden credit card tax on the country. We are organizing a rally to protest the hidden credit card fees from skyrocketing gas prices just prior to the July 4th Independence Day holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

More Windfall Profiteering – Barrel of Crude Oil at Record $105.97

Is anyone else wondering why there is silence as the banks, Visa and MasterCard are celebrating extraordinary windfall profiteering at the pumps?  Crude oil reached another record high – $105.97, which means even more profiteering.

____________________________________________________

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

What is “Reason Code 96?”

From the National Association of Convenience Stores:

Retailers also are hit with additional costs because of chargebacks, known as “Reason Code 96.” While retailers have not seen the specific rule (no retailer has seen the complete credit card operating rules that they are told to follow) they can be denied payment by the banks if they authorize a pay-at-the-pump transaction for more than $50 for Visa and more than $75 for MasterCard, even though the transaction is not challenged by the customer. As long as fuel prices remain high, “Reason Code 96” will substantially increase the cost of credit card acceptance.

Debit Holds for Fuel Purchases

Gas-buyers Fume at Credit Card Limits, ‘Blocks’

Visa, MasterCard and the Banks Windfall Profiteering at the Pumps

——————————————– 

$101.11 

It’s a record price at the pumps, which again raises the question: why are the banks allowed to reap windfall profits during our nation’s economic energy crisis? 

As more motorists are forced to pay with plastic – due to the record costs to fill up their tanks, Visa, MasterCard and its thousands of member banks are earning windfall profits.  They demand a percent of each sale for each credit card transaction, even though the interchange fee cost is nearly zero (it is estimated that the actual fees to process electronic payments are about 13% of the total interchange fees collected).   

Related Links

FAST FACT: Record gas prices leads to possible profiteering and windfall for credit card companies

Banks Benefit When Oil Surges

Crude-oil Futures Hit $100 a Barrel on Nymex

More Oil Profiterring. A Barrel of Gas Now at $86

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

Oil Surges Past Record High, Above $78 a Barrel; Yields More Windfall Profiteering For Banks 

Interesting Question: Why Only Cap Interchange Fees At The Pumps?

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

Banks Using Record Gas Prices To Soften Mortgage Meltdown

Let’s not forget to add Visa and MasterCard – the two giant credit card associations – to the list of those effectively profiteering from the world’s economic energy crisis. 

With all the added money flooding into the banks from record energy costs and motorists paying with Visa and MasterCard’s, we can only assume they are using these windfall profits to help cover their disastrously mismanaged mortgage meltdown.

Who would have thought that Visa, MasterCard and their thousands of member banks would punish motorists to help cover their other banking misadventures?

As crude oil prices rose again to record levels (above $100 a barrel) the thousands of member banks that run the giant credit card cartels are making mint off motorists’ anguish. 

It is more likely that drivers will be forced to reach for plastic, as few have enough paper currency to cover the record price to fill-up a tank of gas.  This means that unprecedented profiteering is taking place again because more people are forced to use Visa and MasterCard, then pay among the highest merchant interchange fees ever. 

When gas was $1.50 a gallon, just a short time ago, the service station interchange fees were significantly less.  Now, with these record prices, the banks are profiteering with unparalleled greed. 

• Why exactly are the banks able to claim a percent from every sale, even when their costs are nearly unmoved? 
• Whatever happened to MasterCard’s proclamation that they would cap interchange fees at $50.00 a fill-up? 
• Why didn’t Visa join in the same interchange fee limit?
• The top question is: If MasterCard and Visa could put a cap on merchant interchange fees at $50.00 per transaction for a gas station car fill-up, why can’t they equally provide the same rate structure for all retailers?

Related Links

FAST FACT: Record gas prices leads to possible profiteering and windfall for credit card companies

Banks Benefit When Oil Surges

Crude-oil Futures Hit $100 a Barrel on Nymex

More Oil Profiterring. A Barrel of Gas Now at $86

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

Oil Surges Past Record High, Above $78 a Barrel; Yields More Windfall Profiteering For Banks 

Interesting Question: Why Only Cap Interchange Fees At The Pumps?

  

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

Crude-oil Futures Hit $100 a Barrel on Nymex

Who Profits When Gas Prices Rise? 

Even more, record breaking windfall profits from service station-charged interchange fees due to record gas prices at the pumps. Gas now over $100.00 a Barrel generates huge windfall for the credit card associations and its member banks who charge a pay as you go fee for most credit card transactions. Swipe your credit card at the pump and the card associations [Visa and MasterCard] along with their thousands of member banks win during our nation’s and the world’s economic energy crisis.

Recent WayTooHigh.com related articles

• More Oil Profiterring. A Barrel of Gas Now at $86 (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Jumps to Nearly $100, Generates More Interchange Fee Profiteering
• The Flood of Banks’ Windfall Profiteering at the Pumps Rises (commentary, WayTooHigh.com)
• That’s a Lot of Dough-Nuts (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Nearing New Record Highs Means Record Interchange Fees Too (WayTooHigh.com)
• “$105 a Barrel” Would Mean More Windfall Profits for Credit Card Companies (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Surges Past Record High, Above $78 a Barrel; Yields More Windfall Profiteering For Banks (WayTooHigh.com)
• An Orgy of Credit Card and Bank Profiteering From Record Pump Prices (WayTooHigh.com)
• Giant Credit Card Cartels Answering Wrong Questions (WayTooHigh.com)

[commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

More Windfall Profiteering At The Pumps

Today’s Los Angeles Times asks readers if they are ready to pay $4.00 a gallon?  The article by Times staff writer Ronald White hints that “several factors point toward a nightmarish spring for motorists.”  But, there is a bright side too. These are dreamy conditions for Visa, MasterCard and its member banks which continue to reap windfall profits as more motorists are forced to charge at the pumps. 

We continue to rhetorically wonder why the credit card associations are able to grab a percent of each sale, even though the cost per transaction are about the same for a $1.00 or $1000.00 electronic payment on their networks.

Recent WayTooHigh.com related articles:

• More Oil Profiterring. A Barrel of Gas Now at $86 (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Jumps to Nearly $100, Generates More Interchange Fee Profiteering
• The Flood of Banks’ Windfall Profiteering at the Pumps Rises (commentary, WayTooHigh.com)
• That’s a Lot of Dough-Nuts (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Nearing New Record Highs Means Record Interchange Fees Too (WayTooHigh.com)
• “$105 a Barrel” Would Mean More Windfall Profits for Credit Card Companies (WayTooHigh.com)
• Oil Surges Past Record High, Above $78 a Barrel; Yields More Windfall Profiteering For Banks (WayTooHigh.com)
• An Orgy of Credit Card and Bank Profiteering From Record Pump Prices (WayTooHigh.com)
• Giant Credit Card Cartels Answering Wrong Questions (WayTooHigh.com)

[Commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

Thanksgiving Travel: Record Gas Prices Leads to Extraordinary Hubris

More than a year ago, MasterCard Worldwide proclaimed they planned to establish a $50 cap on the fees gas stations pay to process consumer credit cards at the pumps.  Whatever happened to that program? Did they initiate the interchange fee limit, or was it just hot air? 

And, what about Visa’s program to limit interchange fees at the pumps?

With gas prices soaring to record levels, we want to know what happened.  And, that leads to the larger question: if MasterCard does agree to limits interchange fees at service stations, how about at the corner convenience store and million of other locations that also accept their cards?

[Commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

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]

Interesting Question: Why Only Cap Interchange Fees At The Pumps?

[With gas prices now at record levels, we are reposting this August 27, 2007 commentary] 

We received a call today from a news reporter from a national publication and was explaining the previously discussed $50.00 interchange fee cap at the pumps that MasterCard® had proposed some time ago. The reporter asked us why the level of $50.00 was limited just to service stations and not to all merchants? Good question, especially because by advocating the fee limit, the card association is, in our opinion, effectively explaining that even with credit card transactions, there is no reason to extend the interchange fee beyond that rate.

According to a P-I News Service article, this time last year, MasterCard’s logic about limiting interchange fees at service stations must be applied to all merchants. Whether it is Tiffany & Co, Cartier, or the local corner grocery store, the interchange fee should be limited to $50.00; we suggest it should be cost-based, and therefore closer to zero – just as it is in Canada when consumers use their PIN-based debit cards.

The article explained that “MasterCard Worldwide said … that it will establish a cap on the fees gas stations pay to clear consumer credit cards … ‘We have heard the merchant concerns loud and clear,’ Joshua Peirez, group executive of MasterCard’s global public policy, said in the statement. [On the retail gas cap], Peirez said it would apply to consumer credit and debit cards and will provide benefits to gasoline retailers on credit card transactions of about $50.00 or more … MasterCard added that the ‘unique structure’ of the petroleum distribution business means that gasoline retailers have been ‘disproportionately affected’ by rapidly rising oil prices.”

Click here to read the entire unedited article.

Another profile on this issue was covered by Digital Transactions: “MasterCard Will Post Interchange Rates, Cap Fees for Gas Retailers.”

Notice that only MasterCard had come up with the $50.00 cap at the pumps, and we are unsure why Visa® has been silent on this matter? Perhaps because merchants will do the math and demand that all transactions for Visa too – from watches to a bag of groceries – should also have the same $50.00 limitation – until we win the antitrust, price-fixing battle.

[commentary: WayTooHigh.com]