Small Business Owners Unite at U.S. Capital to Protect Swipe Fee Reform

WASHINGTON -- Tomorrow, more than 100 small business owners from across the country with Reform Swipe Fees Now! will be in Washington, D.C. to urge Congress and the Federal Reserve (the Fed) to protect common-sense swipe fee reform as passed by Congress last year. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT), Hank Armour, president and CEO of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, will also participate.

“I have owned my small business for almost four decades,” said Dennis Lane, National spokesman for Reform Swipe Fees Now! and 7-Eleven franchise owner. “Year after year, I have seen these fees continue to rise and prevent guys like me from lowering prices, expanding business or strengthening a local economy. Enough is enough! We have got to protect the reforms that Congress passed.”

Last year, Congress passed and the President signed into law important bipartisan reforms that would help ensure that excessive debit card swipe fees become “reasonable and proportional” to the overall cost of processing each transaction. Now, as the Fed works to establish rules guiding implementation, the big banks and credit card companies are aggressively lobbying to weaken reform, and small business owners hope to ensure the original intent of the law prevails.