It’s a huge victory for convenience store retailers and merchants across the U.S. today, as the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Bob Corker (R-TN) to delay swipe fee reform. The vote was 54-45 in favor of the Tester-Corker amendment, six short of the 60 needed to delay swipe fee [...]
NACS is urging retailers to call their Senators in one final push before the 2p.m. EST vote. Today, June 8, at 2 p.m. EST, the Senate is set to vote on an amendment by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), which seeks to delay and effectively kill swipe fee reform. The debate ( happening now) and the [...]
By: John Lofstock, Editor. After a years-long struggle to get some much-needed relief from the high interchange fees that are eroding the industry’s profitability, convenience store operators are in danger of seeing the victory slip between their hands. The Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Consumer Financial Protection Act, which is set to be finalized April [...]
“We’re not looking for a free ride. What we’re looking for is fair and reasonable,” notes 7-Eleven Franchisee Dennis Lane. Thursday, Feb. 17, marks the eighth public hearing on debit and credit card swipe fees. The hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m. is set to be held in the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer [...]
NACS urges retailers to join it on Capital Hill to show support for the Durbin Amendment that regulates interchange fees. With a new Congress in session, the rule regulating interchange fees runs the risk of being overturned, and NACS is urging retailers to show their government the issue remains important to them. The Dodd-Frank Wall [...]
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) called the Dec. 16 release of the Federal Reserve’s proposed rulemaking related to debit card swipe fees a “positive step” and said it will continue to push for the reforms demanded by Congress and consumers alike. While no interchange fees should be allowed on debit transactions, the Fed’s [...]
“Since credit cards were introduced more than 60 years ago, no one dared step in to challenge the powerful banks. We did. And we got change,” said NACS President and CEO Hank Armour in his Opening General Session address on Oct. 6 at the NACS Show. NACS’ “audacious goal” to fight swipe fees, said Armour, [...]
Engagement, an overriding theme of the NACS Show, was clearly the dominant theme of NACS Chairman Jay Ricker’s Opening General Session address on Oct. 6 at the NACS Show. Ricker encapsulated his past year as chairman with three stories about engagement: with the media, with customers and with elected officials. The first story related to [...]
The convenience and petroleum retailing industry are now celebrating the end of a nearly 10-year battle to rein in interchange fees. Yesterday, July 15, the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 39 in support of the financial reform package known as the Dodd-Frank Bill that contains the crucial interchange amendment, NACS reported. Thursday’s vote was the [...]
Last night, Wednesday, June 30, the House voted on the financial bill package, passing it by a vote of 237-192, with the swipe fee amendment intact, NACS reported. The bill was not without changes though. Earlier this week the Conference committee working on the financial services overhaul met again to alter aspects of the bill [...]
As the House and Senate prepare to vote on the financial reform bill—containing the Durbin amendment on interchange fees—this week, NACS’ message to retailers is that the battle is far from won. Three hurdles remain: passing the House, passing the Senate and getting signed into law by President Obama. “Until all three happen, actually, until [...]
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and key conferees have reached an agreement on the Wall Street reform bill, regarding his amendment regulating interchange fees, NACS reported. The agreement makes minor, clarifying changes to the language, which passed the Senate 64 to 33 on May 13, and responds to concerns raised by state governments [...]
The issue of interchange fees found an audience at the Georgia House Banks and Banking Committee, which listened to testimony last week on HB 1456-a bill that deals with the subject of interchange fees. Often late session bills are buried in subcommittees, but significantly Committee Chairman James Mills, who co-sponsored the bill, allowed the [...]
Kum & Go, L.C. has collected more than 40,000 signatures from customers wanting to control and reduce credit and debit card swipe (or interchange) fees put on customer transactions. The signatures were collected in one month from all Kum & Go stores as part of NACS’ Fight Swipe Fees petition drive. “Kum & Go joined [...]
The state of Vermont is proposing an amendment to S. 138 being introduced today in the Vermont Senate. This amendment would allow merchants to set minimum and maximum transaction amounts for all debit, credit and charge card transactions, permitting them to reject a customer’s card. The Electronic Payments Coalition has spoken out against the amendment [...]