Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall has expressed his approval following the endorsement of the Credit Card Competition Act by several major unions. The legislation aims to increase competition and choice in the credit card network market, which is currently dominated by Visa and Mastercard.

"Visa-Mastercard and Wall Street banks are charging American families the highest swipe fees in the world — nearly five times higher than those in other countries," stated Senator Marshall. "These excessive fees cost the average hardworking American household over $1,200 a year. No one understands the burden of these costs better than our trade unions, and I’m proud to have their support as we fight to bring fairness and competition back to the payments market."

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union (RWDSU), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) have collectively endorsed this act. In a letter detailing their support, they emphasized:

"We, the undersigned labor unions, who together represent over 4.5 million American workers, write to express our support for the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) and urge its passage into law.

"While our memberships are diverse, hail from different industries, and different parts of the country, all unions know that working people are reeling from an affordability crisis on everyday goods. This crisis is especially challenging for low-wage workers who often need to make necessary purchases like gasoline, groceries, and clothing on credit cards.

"We embrace the Credit Card Competition Act as a means to return more buying power to hard-working Americans by curbing the outrageous rise in fees charged by Visa and Mastercard to merchants in the United States.

"In the past decade, the fees charged by two dominant credit card companies have nearly tripled. And because almost 90% of Visa/Mastercard credit cards are issued by the largest 10 banks, some of whom also sit on boards of Visa and Mastercard arguments about risk of swipe fee reform to small community banks ring hollow."

The full letter can be accessed online for further details.