While it’s heartening to see Gov. Mills successfully enact initiatives in her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Maine small businesses are still enduring excessive credit card swipe fees.
A free-market solution to curbing the cost of transaction fees – a business expense second only to labor for most retailers – is for the Visa-Mastercard duopoly to engage in industry competition. By one estimate, these two credit card giants account for more than 80% of general-purpose credit cards, a clear indication that something is wrong. Credit cards swipe fees have doubled in the past decade, forcing businesses to increase the cost of products and services and ultimately putting additional strain on consumers’ wallets.
That’s why I am counting on Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins to pass the Credit Card Competition Act this year. Once passed, the bill would allow other, smaller networks to finally compete with Visa and Mastercard – spurring lower swipe fees that will be good for businesses and consumers alike.
Amid record-high inflation rates and labor shortages, the least Congress can do is provide small businesses real relief from credit card fees.
Heather Tunison
Bar Harbor
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