Ever wonder who pays for all that credit card junk mail?
It comes from your credit card interchange fees.
Interchange is the biggest credit card fee you’ve never heard of... and it’s outrageous.
We’re not turning a mountain into a molehill; it’s already a mountain—of unwanted mail solicitations coming at you directly from the credit card companies. And the fees they charge you pay for all that unwanted junk. Even when you consider all the other fees credit card issuers charge, interchange is probably the worst—and that’s saying something. For example: • MasterCard and Visa don’t want you to know about credit card interchange fees — these fees are set in secret and each of them makes it practically impossible to tell you what interchange fees cost. • Last year, Americans paid over $36 billion in interchange fees, about twice what credit card issuers collected in late charges. • Interchange fees are reflected in the price of nearly everything you buy—in fact, as much as $2 of every $100 you spend goes to card issuers—no wonder interchange has risen a staggering 117% since 2001. • According to a recent study, only 13% of interchange fees actually go to paying for processing card transactions—the rest goes to things like advertising and all that junk mail you get. Fortunately, the House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force has scheduled a hearing concerning credit card interchange fees. You have a right to know what your credit cards are costing you. And when the credit card companies are forced to explain their fees, policies, and practices in public—you win.
You do.
To learn more, please visit www.UnfairCreditCardFees.com or contact the Merchants Payments Coalition at (202) 955-1400.
Paid for by the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), an organization fighting for a more competitive and transparent credit card fee system that better serves American consumers and retailers alike. The MPC represents the nation’s retailers, restaurants, department stores, supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores, convenience stores and online merchants—more than 2.7 million stores and approximately 50 million employees.