After years of discussion and planning, major legislation has finally been introduced in both houses of Congress, with bipartisan support, that would bring about lower credit card fees. The reason credit card fees are so high is that the fees are set by just two companies-Visa and MasterCard. There is no force that drives them lower since no merchant today can survive with accepting both of them. 

The Credit Card Competition Act will not set a cap on fees. Instead it will require that a merchant can choose among more than one network to run the transaction. Since merchants will demand lower fees, this will force the credit card fee to drop. The fees retailers in the US are forced to pay are about seven times as high as they are in Europe, so there is plenty of room for them to fall. 

These fees are set by Visa and MasterCard but they are collected by the Big Banks. Stopping this legislation is the largest priority they have now. They may not have much sympathy they can generate, but they have millions to spend. That's why it's so important that your representatives hear your voice, and why this matters to your business. One of New Jersey's members of Congress has joined as a cosponsor, now let's get his colleagues on board. Send them a pre-written email now asking them to cosponsor this bill!