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Potential Interchange Settlement Becomes Hot Topic at Card Conference
February 22, 2012
With the growing likelihood that merchant litigation over credit card interchange will conclude with a settlement, as hinted by defendants MasterCard and Visa reserving billions of dollars in recent months, comes observer speculation about the case's final impact at the annual Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cards, Payments, and Financial Technology Symposium.
With the growing likelihood that merchant litigation over credit card interchange will conclude with a settlement, as hinted by defendants MasterCard and Visa reserving billions of dollars in recent months, comes observer speculation about the case's final impact at the annual Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cards, Payments, and Financial Technology Symposium. The merchant plaintiffs charged the card networks with colluding to fix the interchange fees levied on retailers. The settlement may entail the networks offering some small concessions, such as permitting merchants to charge customers paying with credit cards an additional fee. Participants in a panel discussion at the symposium say that small merchants, such as convenience stores and doctor's offices, are the most likely firms to tack on such a surcharge. "I'd say 50/50, we have a settlement,'" says panelist and consultant Eric Grover. "But I'd be surprised if they included something with teeth." Oliver Wyman principal and panelist Inderpreet Batra says a provisional reduction in interchange could be another potential concession, although he doubts it would be permanent.
Author: American Banker (02/21/12) Sposito, Sean
Source: "Potential Interchange Settlement Becomes Hot Topic at Card Conference"
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