The fee increase comes at a politically fraught moment for the industry in light of the Credit Card Competition Act proposal pending on Capitol Hill. That act, if passed, would attempt to increase competition in the industry by requiring that competing networks, other than Visa and Mastercard, be made available to merchants for processing credit card payments.
The legislation, sponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, has unleashed a battle among special interests in Washington. While merchant trade groups, such as the National Retail Federation and Merchants Payments Coalition, are backing the bill, those that represent the banks and card companies, including the Electronic Payments Coalition, are opposing it.
