Support of Credit Card Competition Act Still Needed An antitrust settlement Tuesday that would nominally cap swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard is actually “very small relief” on the swipe fee issue and is, per the Merchants Payment Coalition (MPC), insufficient to the scale of the problem. As part of the settlement, retailers will be allowed to charge consumers extra at checkout for using Visa or MasterCard and will be able to use pricing tactics to steer customers to lower-cost cards. Additionally, Visa and MasterCard agreed to reduce swipe fees by at least four basis points (0.04 percent) for at least three years, and the average systems-wide swipe fee for both networks must be at least seven basis points (0.07 percent) below the current average for a period of five years. “Bookstores should still be reaching out to their Senators and urging a hearing on the Credit Card Competition Act,” said David Grogan, Director of ABFE, Advocacy and Public Policy for the American Booksellers Association. “Make sure your members of congress understand that this settlement does nothing to change the competitive landscape — Visa and MasterCard remain very much a monopoly.” Free Expression This week is the Trans Rights Readathon (TRR), leading up to Trans Day of Visibility on March 31. ABFE spoke to volunteer organizers Rebecca Skyhart and KC Norton about the meaning of the event, how to participate, and their own TRR TBRs. New Hampshire’s book ban bill, SB 523, has been revised to drop the Texas READER Act-inspired book rating requirement for booksellers who want to do business with schools. The amended version passed out of committee on a 3-2 party-lines vote. Despite revisions, it remains a book ban bill that would force schools to adopt insufficient book challenge review policies. American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) is urging New Hampshire residents to contact their state senators, asking them to vote NO on SB 523 and YES on anti-book ban bill HB 1311, which has passed the house and is headed to the Senate. |
