Durbin Talks Credit Card Competition Act With National Restaurant Association
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association Michelle Korsmo to discuss the impact of credit card swipe fees, one of the highest operating costs for restaurants. Durbin recently reintroduced his bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act, which would require the largest banks in the country to offer two networks to be used to process credit card transactions with one being a network outside of the Visa-Mastercard duopoly. This competition and choice between networks would incentivize better service and lower credit card swipe fees for businesses and consumers. During the meeting, Durbin also spoke about his efforts to push for employment authorization for recently arrived migrants to address workforce shortages that restaurants are currently facing.
“Restaurants are the lifeblood of our communities, but they face serious challenges with the steep cost of credit card swipe fees. It’s time that we bring real competition to the credit card industry which has been dominated by the Visa-Mastercard duopoly and which has swamped consumers and restaurants with excessive swipe fees,” said Durbin. “In my meeting with the National Restaurant Association today, I spoke about my bipartisan legislation, the Credit Card Competition Act, which would enhance competition between credit card networks and ultimately lower costs for businesses and consumers.”
A photo of the meeting is available here.
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