Visa Knocks 7-Eleven on Interchange Effort

Visa Inc. has weighed in on 7-Eleven Inc.'s efforts to garner consumer support for interchange fee regulation.

The San Francisco payments company said in a press release Wednesday that 7-Eleven's "deceptive campaign is really about some retailers trying to take advantage of the public by having them support legislation that would ultimately shift retailers' costs of doing business onto consumers in the form of checkout fees, also known as surcharging."

7-Eleven began collecting consumers' signatures at stores all over the country this summer on a petition supporting its call for legislators to regulate interchange rates, and Wednesday delivered thousands of the petition booklets to lawmakers in Washington.

Congress and the public "should not be fooled by the motives behind the petitions being delivered to Congress," Visa said.

According to Visa's own research, 78% of consumers believe the value and benefits retailers receive from accepting credit and debit cards outweigh the costs of accepting them.

And by a 2-to-1 margin, consumers also said that retailers should bear the cost of accepting credit and debit cards.

Visa contends that consumers understand that retailers benefit from electronic payments, whether it is through guaranteed payment, increased security or acceptance.

Also, Visa said 83% of people surveyed believe that any savings retailers realize will be used to increase their own bottom lines and are unlikely to be passed along to consumers.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER