How Louisiana Residents Can Fight High Credit Card Fees

SHREVEPORT, LA - Businesses want something done now to curb fees they pay to credit card companies. If you know anyone who owns a business, you’ve probably heard them complain about how much they have to pay for the privilege of accepting credit cards.

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Congress is now working on a bill to tighten up what the credit card companies can charge. It's called the Credit Card Competition Act. A vote could come during this session of Congress.

The National Retail Federation is urging members to keep the pressure up on elected officials to make changes. They want relief from excessive and unfair credit card swipe fees.

Here Are Some of the Stats:

The average American family pays an extra $1,000 every year because of the rising cost of swipe fees regardless of whether they even use a credit card.

Credit card swipe fees are most retailers’ highest operating cost after labor — preventing them from investing in their businesses by hiring more staff, buying more inventory and competing on price.

U.S. retailers and merchants pay the highest swipe fees in the industrialized world — $126.4 billion in swipe fees were paid by businesses for credit card transactions, a 20% increase from the previous year.

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You can click here to urge Congress to pass reform measures.

Most businesses have to increase prices to account for the credit card fees since more and more Americans are paying with debit or credit cards rather than cash.