WASHINGTON — The Merchants Payments Coalition this week praised comments by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) after he urged the Senate to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, citing President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of the long-stalled measure.
“This bipartisan bill that I’ve described to you — the Credit Card Competition Act — was endorsed by President Trump this week,” Durbin said. “He was unequivocable in supporting it.”
“Let’s get this done on behalf of consumers and small businesses,” Durbin said. “This is the time to do it if we’re going to meaningfully address the real expenses families face,” he said, adding that swipe fees “feed into the inflation aspects of this economy.”'
“Visa and Mastercard have a virtual death grasp on the credit card network market,” Durbin said. “These is no competition unless the Marshall-Durbin-Welch bill passes.”
Durbin’s remarks came after Trump endorsed the CCCA in a social media post on Monday and said it is needed “in order to stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.” Later the same day, Durbin and fellow lead sponsor Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), along with Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), formally reintroduced the bill in the Senate while representatives Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) did the same in the House.
“From President Trump endorsing the bill to Senator Durbin making a push for passage on the Senate floor, momentum to finally bring competition to credit card swipe fees is at the highest level we’ve ever seen and is building quickly,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “When Donald Trump, Roger Marshall, Dick Durbin, Lance Gooden and Zoe Lofgren all agree on something, that’s a clear sign that this is a non-partisan issue that impacts American families across the political spectrum. These fees have driven up costs for small businesses and prices for consumers for far too long. The time to pass the Credit Card Competition Act has come.”