07-20-2006, 10:09 AM
Quote: Visas and MasterCards practices in setting credit and debit card interchange rates violate federal antitrust laws and need to be addressed by Congress, a representative of the Merchant Payments Coalition told the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
Interchange is the percentage of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard banks collect from retailers every time a consumer uses a credit or debit card. The fee varies based on the type of card, merchant size and other factors, but averages about 2% for credit card transactions.
The collective setting of interchange fees represents on-going antitrust violations by the two leading payment card associationsVisa and MasterCard...
full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=19279