Poll results: ‘Yes’ to competition
Competition is good for the consumer, right?
A recent poll question posed by HBSDealer.com found that the majority of readers who responded are in agreement with that statement, specifically as it relates to the Credit Card Competition Act.
The act, supported by industry groups including the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and the National Retail Federation, would require that there be at least two competing processing networks enabled on each payment card.
Specifically: credit cards issued by the nation’s largest banks would be enabled under the act to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks – Visa or Mastercard plus an independent network such as NYCE, STAR or SHAZAM. Retailers and LBM dealers would be allowed to choose which network to use, and according to the NLBMDA, that means payment networks would have to compete to offer the best pricing, security and service.
Credit and debit card swipe fees have more than doubled over the past decade and soared 16.7% in 2022 alone to a record $160.7 billion, according to stats shared by the NLBMDA. The NRF points to the potential savings for the American consumer amount to about $15 billion per year.
Voices in the banking industry counter that the CCCA would reduce security – allowing retailers to make transactions through cheaper, perhaps inferior, networks. They also suggest the bill would reduce or eliminate funding for credit card rewards programs – points dismissed by the NRF.
A recent NLBMDA bulletin strongly encouraged LBM dealers to write their elected officials in Washington to support or cosponsor the CCA.
Swipe fees are the highest cost after labor for most retailers and are “far too much to simply absorb,” said the NLBMDA.
For more, visit the NLBMDA at dealer.org.
