WASHINGTON — NACS applauded the Senate reintroduction of the “Credit Card Fair Fee Act,” legislation introduced on June 9 by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) that seeks to address the more than $48 billion that Americans annually pay in credit card swipe fees.

The bill (S. 1212) seeks to help level the playing field for retailers by giving them a seat at the negotiating table with banks to determine the fees assessed for every sale made by credit card, and ultimately reduce the costs of everyday goods for consumers.

“Senator Durbin’s introduction of this bill, following the introduction of similar legislation last week in the House of Representatives, is further proof that Congress is fed up with the shell game being played by the credit card companies,” said NACS Chairman Sonja Hubbard, CEO of Texarkana, Texas-based E-Z Mart Stores. “Congress has already addressed outrageous lending fees and policies directly targeting consumers, and it is vital that it also address those secret fees and policies that affect merchants and their customers.”

Credit card swipe fees — called “interchange fees” by the big banks that set these rates — are a percentage of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard and their member banks collect from retailers every time a credit or debit card is used. These fees average about 2 percent in the United States, the highest rate in the industrialized world.

“It is time to level the playing field for merchants and consumers,” said Sen. Conyers said in a statement introducing the bill. “It is not an attempt at regulating the industry and does not mandate any particular outcome. This bill simply enhances competition by allowing merchants to negotiate with the dominant banks for the terms and rates of the fees.”

In 2008, credit card fees cost U.S. convenience stores $8.4 billion — compared to only $5.2 billion in store profits, according to NACS data. Almost all of these credit card fees are attributable to credit card swipe fees.