WASHINGTON MasterCard’s chief lobbyist on Wednesday told credit union executives merchants will not end their fight over card interchange, even after piling up big wins on the Durbin amendment, the pending antitrust settlement and the recent court decision overruling the Federal Reserve’s debit cap as too low.
“The merchants are hungry, they want more,” Tucker Foote, vice president of government affairs for MasterCard, told NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus yesterday.
He predicted merchants will continue to lobby to expand the Durbin amendment cap to include institutions below the current $10 billion threshold and to limit interchange on credit transactions, too. “They want more,” Foote said.
He predicted that even if the federal court issues final approval on the landmark, $7.2-billion antitrust settlement with MasterCard and Visa a hearing is scheduled for Thursday merchants will continue their legal assault on the two card networks. “The merchants will continue to litigate,” he stated.
Today’s hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York comes as dozens of the biggest merchants in the country, including Walmart, Kohls, Target and 7-Eleven, have balked at the antitrust settlement, jeopardizing a final approval by the judge, who is expected to rule in 60 to 90 days. Meantime, dozens of merchants have filed new antitrust suits against the card companies in recent months, ensuring that litigation will continue for the foreseeable future.
