ALEXANDRIA, VA – NACS has just released a short, interactive cartoon designed to educate consumers about the problem of credit and debit card swipe fees – and get them involved in a solution.

“Did you know that $2 out of every $100 you pay for products at your local convenience store goes to hidden interchange fees?” asks the narrator. Users can then see the effect that swipes fees have on purchases, whether for fuel, milk, bread, snacks or the daily newspaper. The result likely will be shocking to many consumers, given the low, or even negative, margins that convenience retailers have on small purchases made with plastic.

“The battle over credit and debit card ‘swipe fees’ that has been raging on Capitol Hill for the past five years will be heating up again soon,” said NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith. “The credit card industry makes $125 million a day on swipe fees, so it is obvious why they want to protect their ‘secret tax’ on consumers and retailers. This cartoon is an interactive tool that can help bring together retailers and consumer to tell Congress why swipe fee reform is so essential to Main Street retailers, as well as American consumers.”

Credit and debit 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.

In 2008 alone, Americans paid over $48 billion in credit card swipe fees. These fees are non-negotiable and set in secret by the credit card companies and their member banks.

Beckwith said that the cartoon has been shared with the national media and encouraged retailers and others in the industry to add a link to the cartoon on their Web sites. It is available here.