For the first time, there is bipartisan legislation in Congress to bring retailers relief on credit card swipe fees. It has been 12 years since Congress passed debit reform, and while that has been successful in helping retailers on debit card fees, Visa and Mastercard’s duopoly position dominating the credit card market has led to continued increases in credit card fees. In July, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the Credit Card Competition Act (S. 4674), which is legislation that would require two unaffiliated networks to be enabled on credit cards, meaning Visa or Mastercard could no longer block their competitors from having a shot at retailers’ business. Instead, Visa and Mastercard would have to compete with another network for this service.

That’s a far cry from what happens now. Today, Visa and Mastercard prohibit banks who issue cards with their networks on them from putting another network on the card. The lack of competition on credit cards means those two brands control 87.7% of credit card volume. Without any market forces pushing down the fees, they continue to go up year over year.

The convenience store industry has seen a historic jump in swipe fees, which were up 38% in July from the previous year. Given that credit card swipe fees are a percentage of the total cost of the transaction, they multiply with every cent of inflation. And, with 41-year-high inflation and record gas prices, these fees have skyrocketed, adding to the burdens of businesses and the financial pressures of their customers.

The credit card market in the U.S. is unquestionably broken, which is why congressional intervention is necessary. Thankfully, Sens. Durbin and Marshall get that and introduced their legislation as a market-based solution to bring competition into the credit card market.

“When it comes to Main Street vs. Wall Street, I’ll choose Main Street every time,” said Sen. Marshall. “Convenience stores, gas stations and other small businesses in Kansas are being taken advantage of by Visa and MasterCard on behalf of big banks in New York City at a time when they, and the communities they serve, are grappling with crippling inflation and staring down the barrel of a looming recession. It’s gone on long enough. Competition is the heartbeat of capitalism, and that is what our bill will create, competition.”

Routing competition isn’t a new concept. It’s in place today on debit cards because of the Durbin Amendment, which was signed into law in 2010, requiring two unaffiliated networks enabled on debit cards. Since its implementation, retailers and their customers have not only seen savings but also improvements in security and new technologies emerge, because competition begets innovation.

The Credit Card Competition Act will bring this type of competition to credit cards, and it’s estimated that it will save American businesses and consumers $11 billion annually. For this reason, Visa, Mastercard and their largest issuers will spend a massive amount of resources to fight against it.

To get this bill over the finish line, we need every member of the convenience industry to use their voice today. Using the NACS Grassroots portal, please contact your legislators and ask them to support the Credit Card Competition Act.

Retailers: Use the NACS Grassroots portal to ask your senator to co-sponsor the Credit Card Competition Act (S. 4674).