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Franchisees of 7-Eleven Inc. are collecting customer signatures on petitions calling for Congress to regulate interchange, CardLine has learned. "Ask Congress to stop credit card companies from charging unfair transaction fees to the businesses you shop," say displays at checkouts of 7-Eleven stores. Below the displays are signature books bound with covers showing a man in a hardhat, a boy with a giant Slurpee and a couple of apparent 7-Eleven employees below the caption, "We're not just your 7-Eleven. We're neighbors hurt by unfair credit card fees." A 7-Eleven store in Los Gatos, Calif., had collected some 10 pages of signatures by the time a CardLine contributor visited the store this weekend. A 7-Eleven representative tells CardLine the company is not planning to announce the campaign until tomorrow. But in a YouTube video, Quincy, Mass., franchise owner Dennis Lane, who also is chairman of the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, says the coalition has started a campaign to collect 1 million signatures. "Thanks for stopping in to our 7-Eleven store. Would you like to be one of the first to sign our petition to control unfair credit card interchange fees and help lower the cost of goods?" Lane asks a customer, who replies, "Sure, I'd be happy to." The video ends with instructions "Visit www.unfaircreditcardfees.com for more details." That is the address for an interchange-lobbying site created by the Merchants Payments Coalition. Lane was not available for an interview at CardLine's deadline.
