September 24, 2009
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News: 7-Eleven Petition Against Interchange Fees
Interchange fees have become a heated debate between retailers and credit card companies. Interchange fees are the transaction fees that retailers pay each time they process a card transaction. 7-Eleven Convenience stores have been hit particularly hard with interchange fees. The National Association of Convenience Stores reported last year that stores like 7-Eleven paid over 63 percent more in credit card transaction fees than they received in profits. The retail industry as a whole paid over $48 billion. Convenience store credit card transaction fees have a higher ratio of transaction fees because these types of stores typically have smaller transactions.
The Dallas, Texas based 7-Eleven Convenience stores launched nationwide initiative to fight back. The chain began circulating a petition protesting what they call unfair transaction fees imposed by the credit card networks. The company began its drive on June 22nd and by the end of the drive on August 10th, they had collected over 1.6 million signatures. 7-Eleven representatives were surprised by the overwhelming response by customers. The major convenience store chain collected the signatures asking for the nation's lawmakers to implement new regulation that would allow retailers an opportunity to be a part of the interchange negotiations with credit card networks.
Most likely the positive response by customers is related to their frustration over rising costs. Although the merchant pays the fees, contracts with Visa and MasterCard prohibit them from charging customers fees for using their cards. Ultimately, the cost is passed on to the end consumer through product cost increases. Therefore, all customers end up paying the price whether they pay in cash or credit. According to 7-Eleven representatives, credit card transactions far outweigh cash transactions and lowering the fees would provide long awaited relief and allow owners to be more competitive with pricing. Representatives of the 7-Eleven franchisees will be presenting their lists of signatures to Congress next week.