Originally Posted by
Dadaluma83
Just read the article about the convenience store group rejecting the settlement and they said the reason they rejected it was that it didn't go far enough. Ummm excuse me? Never mind the cash settlement which was the largest in history, now merchants can charge their customers for using a credit card and they think that doesn't go far enough? Jeez louise what more could they possibly want besides sticking it to the credit card customer?
They wanted a cap on interchange fees, like there is with debit cards.
The settlement provides for a temporary reduction of 8 months, but after that time period expires, the fees go back to where they are. Merchants will have the ability to negotiate in groups, but effectively they will still have to pay what Visa/MC ask if they want to accept cards.
In my opinion, this settlement is slanted in Visa/MC/banks' favor. Merchants originally wanted a limit on interchange fees. Instead, they got:
1. a temporary decrease in interchange fees
2. the ability to "negotiate" interchange fees in groups (which appears to be meaningless)
3. the ability to pass on the fee to customers (which will be difficult to do, and is prohibited in some states)
4. some cash thrown at them.