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Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; Healthcare decision planning important for CT residents; Debt dilemma poll: Hoosiers wrestle with college costs.

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Merchants: New Yorkers Socked by Credit Card Fees They Can’t See

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Monday, March 30, 2009   

Albany, NY - A coalition of merchants is mobilizing to urge key House members – in hearings this week – to go after what they call "the biggest credit card fee you've never heard of." It's known as the "interchange" fee, and it's charged to merchants. They pass along the cost, resulting in higher prices for consumers, socking the average New York household hundreds of dollars a year. That's why the Merchants Payments Coalition is campaigning Congress to rein in the banks and credit card companies that are behind the fees.

Lyle Beckwith of the National Association of Convenience Stores says both consumers and merchants are kept in the dark.

"It's a wild guessing game for retailers during these uncertain economic times. Every credit card may carry a different interchange fee, so the merchant has no idea what the rate of any card is. They're constantly trying to factor in what their expenses will be, but they don't know until they get what's left of their money back from the bank."

Big banks may be taking the fall for the subprime mortgage crisis, but predatory lenders are still out there, the Merchants Payments Coalition warns. Beckwith says Visa and Mastercard get away with arbitrarily adding hidden fees to credit card transactions.

"If retailers did that, we'd be arrested for collusion or arrested for price-gouging. Somehow, the credit card outfits and the banks have been able to get away with it."

New York Congressman Dan Muffei is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, which will take up consumer credit card issues this week. The Coalition wants a review of interchange fees to be on the agenda.

A bill that would have reformed credit card interchange charges stalled in the last Congress. The Merchants Payments Coalition will combine paid advertising and grassroots educational events in its campaign promoting regulation.

Credit card companies are against the move, saying it could result in regulation they call "anti-consumer" and an "unnecessary intervention."



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